Camp Nou return delayed as Bacrelona face permit problems ahead of their first home game this season vs Valencia.
Barcelona’s Camp Nou return against Valencia delayed after permit problem.
Five days before it was scheduled to happen, Barcelona announced that their season-opening home match against Valencia would not be played at Camp Nou.
The international break came after the team was granted permission to play their first three games away from home in order to finish the first phase of stadium construction. Although they had initially set an opening date of November 2024, they were still unable to meet the standards necessary to obtain the licenses in time, thus missing a public deadline for the third time.
The 6,000-seat Johan Cruyff Stadium at Barcelona’s Sant Joan Despí training facility west of the city will host the match against Valencia instead.
Barcelona has games against Getafe on September 21 and Real Sociedad on September 28, but they have not stated when they anticipate being able to play at Camp Nou. On October 1, they will play their debut Champions League home game against Paris Saint-Germain.
On Tuesday, inspectors from the local and football authorities were present once more after making many visits to the spot. However, the certificate of finished work that is required before the club can receive official permission to use the stadium has not yet been given to them.
Even though the south end and a portion of the main stand are functioning and have a capacity of 27,000 initially, Barcelona is unable to open the new Camp Nou to the public.
Barcelona was granted access to the Olympic Stadium at Montjuic until February as part of a contingency agreement with the city council. They were based in Montjuic last season, and they are provisionally enrolled for the Champions League this year, though that could change if Camp Nou is prepared. However, Barcelona was unable to use Montjuic this weekend due to a Post Malone performance at the stadium on Friday night.
Just after 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, a brief message thanked supporters for their understanding and patience while stating that Barcelona was “working intensely” to obtain the permits necessary to open Camp Nou. However, it provided no other information. The team promised to let fans know regarding access and ticketing.