La Liga club FC Barcelona’s planned return to Camp Nou on Aug. 10 is “looking increasingly unlikely as the club struggles to complete the necessary work” to allow 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 -- the club’s traditional curtain-raiser for the new season -- if they are “satisfied that work will be finished on the areas needed.” 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 on July 10 “completed the first of a two-step process towards a return to the Camp Nou,” when the city council “approved the first license” to reopen the stadium to the public. However, the club also requires a “second permit” 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” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/16).
FC Barcelona facing delay for return to Camp Nou
