UEFA reject Barcelona stadium request placing Champions League games in doubt | OneFootball

Barcelona’s plight over their return to Spotify Camp Nou continues, after their formal request to the Council to gain a licence to open the stadium has been delayed. Now UEFA are the latest bearer of bad news for Barcelona on the stadium front.

On Monday, Barcelona were due to submit a request to the city council in order to rquest their opening licence, but upon further examinations, discovered that there were still issues with the security measures at the stadium, as they try to open it for 27,000 fans initially. Following discussions on Tuesday, they have agreed to push that meeting back.

UEFA reject Barcelona request for Champions League opener

The major effort for Barcelona is to be back at Camp Nou on the 14th of September to face Valencia in their first Liga home game. If not, that could be behind closed doors. Beyond that, that there is another deadline coming first on the 28th of August, when the Champions League draw takes place. The Catalan giants have until then to inform UEFA of where they will be playing their home games in the league phase of the Champions League, after which it cannot be changed.

Image via FC Barcelona

Barcelona had made a request to UEFA to play their first game in the league phase away from home, akin to in La Liga, to give them more time to prepare Camp Nou for their opener. However Catalunya Radio inform that UEFA have rejected that request, as they do not give special dispensation on the matter, and have not done so in the past. They informed Barcelona that this was the case at the time.

Alternatives for Barcelona

The difference will be around two weeks, with the first Champions League games occurring between the 16th and 18th of September, and the second round taking place between the 30th and 1st of October. If Camp Nou is not ready in time, then Barcelona could be forced to return to Montjuic for the first half of their European campaign.