Barcelona's return to the Camp Nou for Gamper Trophy in serious doubt over council permit

New York Times

2 days ago

Barcelona's planned return to the Camp Nou on August 10 is looking increasingly unlikely as the club struggles to complete the necessary work to be allowed 62,000 people in the stands.
The city council will only grant licenses to the club for that many supporters to attend the Joan Gamper Trophy match if they are satisfied that work will be finished on the areas needed.
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At the moment, that is looking unlikely.
Barcelona's request to the council involved having the stadium's first two rings of seats finished — the lower stand and the middle stand. The third ring and the covering would still need to be built.
The club announced on June 25 that they expected to return home for the Gamper trophy – their traditional curtain-raiser for the new season – with Italian club Como expected to be this year's opponents.
On July 10, the club completed the first of a two-step process towards a return to the Camp Nou, when the city council approved the first license – known as the Llicencia d'Obres – to reopen the stadium to the public.
However, Barca also require a second permit – the Llicencia d'Ocupacio – from the council, with both licenses needed in order to play matches in front of supporters at the stadium.
The club is now exploring an alternative venue for the friendly, most likely to be the Estadi Johan Cruyff next to the club's academy, where Barcelona Atletic and Barcelona Women play.
Barca have spent the last two seasons playing at the Estadi Lluis Companys (also referred to as Montjuic) in the city, while extensive renovation work was carried out on the Camp Nou.
The Spanish champions have already been granted permission by La Liga to play their first three league games of the season away to ensure the Camp Nou is ready for the new league campaign, with Flick's side not scheduled to play at home until the visit of Valencia on September 14.
When completed, the renovated Camp Nou is set to hold 105,000 supporters – which would make it the biggest capacity in Spain.
When they announced their proposed return home in late June, sources at the club knew that timings were tight but remained hopeful they would be granted the required permits in time.
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City council figures already were, however, sceptical.
'The work must be completed on time and in the proper manner in order to apply for the provisional first occupancy licence for the opening of the first and second stands,' said Barcelona's deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, said at the end of June.
'We are not there yet and we need time to check that the stadium is in a condition to welcome spectators.'
The last two editions of the Gamper Trophy have been played at the Montjuic, with Barca beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 in 2023 and losing 3-0 to AS Monaco last summer.
Barca had originally hoped to be back in their revamped home for their 125th anniversary in November 2024 but the construction project hit delays.
Current costs for the project, which is being undertaken by construction company Limak, stand at €900million ($1billion).
Barca's lease to use Montjuic has not been carried over into 2025-26.