Barça, one step away from canceling the first Gamper at the new Camp Nou

BarcelonaBarça announced about three weeks ago that it was "returning home" on August 10 to compete in the Joan Gamper Trophy. However, the reality is that The reopening of the Camp Nou will have to wait. As the newspaper has reported Sport and the ARA has been able to confirm, the stadium will not yet be operational because it does not have the necessary permits. The delay in the works has meant that the deadlines cannot be met and there is no time to obtain authorization from the Barcelona City Council and the Fire Department. Therefore, the return will have to wait.

Barça's initial intention was to wait until Friday, the date on which it was to receive the approval of the institutions. From then on, make the dispute of the match official - so far there was only announced on August 10, but not the opponent or the time—and put tickets on sale. Under normal circumstances, this process would have been done sooner, but Barça, aware of all the uncertainty, decided to wait until the last minute in search of a miracle that ultimately didn't happen.

The necessary bureaucracy prevents deadlines from being met

"I don't think we'll get there. They're asking for a lot of things: documents, required tests...", stated Limak, the construction company in charge of the work. This same newspaper has also contacted sources close to Espai Barça, who were in the same boat: they stated that the work on the first and second stands could be completed on time, but that from then on, a whole series of bureaucratic processes would have to be completed that were slowing things down: "People talk about the City Council as if it were a political decision, but there is a political decision, but no one has signed the document. We're talking about a stadium with a capacity of 60,000 people. It's a huge responsibility, and no one here can take it on unless they're 100% convinced."

When Barça planned its return to Camp Nou, it did so with a capacity of 62,000, which is the number of seats installed in the stadium. Limak's commitment, which even has an electronic board installed in the offices where the days are counted down for handing over the stadium keys, was to complete the work by July 31. Sources close to the construction company maintain that deadlines could be met within the country, but there were more doubts about the stadium's exterior, where the delays were greatest. So, Barça considered a plan B, which was to reopen the stadium, but with a capacity of 30,000 spectators, who could fit in the stands and one of the goal areas. The rest would have been unoccupied. But ultimately, that option isn't viable either.

Gamper has many numbers to finally play on Johan Cruyff

From then on, Barça had three options. One was to cancel the Gamper match. The other was to reschedule it. The possibility of postponing the Gamper match has been ruled out due to the complexity of the schedule, as there are no available dates. Furthermore, it is difficult to cancel it because the audiovisual rights have already been sold. The next step is to ensure that the stadium where the women's first team and the reserve team usually play is available.

The next step is to ensure the Camp Nou can return for La Liga in September.

Once it's officially confirmed that the return will have to wait, the next challenge is to definitively reopen the stadium on the weekend of September 14th, which is when, according to the schedule, the first La Liga match against Valencia is scheduled to be played. Furthermore, the following week, from September 16th to 18th, the first matchday of the Champions League is played, which could also be played in Barcelona depending on the draw. Therefore, the club is placing all its eggs in one basket: completing the access points and obtaining the necessary permits by mid-September. Above all, it is imperative to be ready in time for Europe's top competition, which only allows one stadium to be registered for the entire first phase until early next year.