Barcelona to allocate 14,000 seats exclusively to members as wait for Council green light continues | OneFootball

Barcelona have announced that the additional seats that they intend to open before the end of the season in the first and second tier of Camp Nou will be allocated exclusively to members. The Blaugrana have three sides of the stadium open currently, but are still awaiting the green light from the Barcelona City Council to open the fourth.

The Catalan club emitted a statement on Thursday announcing that they would be allocating the 14,000 seats that remain in the first two tiers exclusively to members. Barcelona are currently awaiting permission from the Council for ‘Phase 1C’ of their reopening of Camp Nou, which will see the fourth side of the stadium opened, with only three currently active. The club note in their statement that they hope to obtain this licence at the beginning of March.

Barcelona will offer a part-season ticket to the members for that section, which will cost between €160 and €240. The Blaugrana will have six La Liga games remaining at home between the start of March and the end of the season, including El Clasico.

Barcelona awaiting green light from Council

It is not clear whether Barcelona can get the green light in time for their Copa del Rey semi-final against Atletico Madrid on the 4th of March, when their side could do with the support as they try to overturn a 4-0 deficit. It had been reported that the Council were scheduled to carry out an inspection on Thursday, and it is not clear whether that had already taken place at the time of the announcement, but it seems they are not yet ready.

Image via Alex Garcia / La Vanguardia

Cost of Gol Nord absence

Further details are provided by Catalunya Radio, who explain that one of the very basic issues that has been preventing Barcelona from obtaining the 1C licence is the installation of gates opening out onto the street, which are yet to be installed. Barcelona’s inability to open the Gol Nord stand comes at an estimated opportunity cost of €1m per game, income they will miss out on in their remaining two games in February against Villarreal and Levante. This is the latest delay to the now over budget renovation works.