Barcelona, in Sant Joan Despí, the League match against Getafe, as announced by the entity chaired by Joan Laporta on Tuesday. The Barca team thus repeats the scene after the premiere at the local last weekend against Valencia in the same premises, and what should be in principle an exception has been repeated again. Not yet to have the necessary permits to open in phase 1, with a maximum capacity of 27,000 people. The return to the Barca fief, once again, is postponed, and the next date at home in the calendar is Saturday, September 28, when Barça will receive Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, the Johan Cruyff, with a maximum capacity of 6,000 people, has become a provisional solution and. From Barça they say that the intention, as always, is to return as soon as possible. But in 15 days the team will debut as a local in Champions against the PSG.
“The stadium is finished, it is prepared to play. Now it is necessary to continue with the formal and administrative process,” Laporta said in statements to the club’s media last Thursday during the Diada de Cataluña. “We will return home soon, but I cannot specify the moment because it depends on the permits that the responsible institutions have to give us,” he continued. From the City Council, you insist on security. “Like any work in this city and country, we must comply with a series of regulations, and no one can be out of a rule that pursues security, security and security,” said David Escudé, sports councilor in Barcelona, Betevé. “You must be a bit prudent because the dates are relative. But I understand that the club wants to return to your home as soon as possible. It is a very complex work for its dimensions,” he added.
The calendar adds complications waiting. And Barça works game by game. The next is next week, on Sunday 28 at 9:00 p.m. against Real Sociedad, but the Camp Nou still does not have the final work certificate of this first phase fully signed. Once you are sent to the City Council, the necessary reports and reviews must be issued to obtain the first partial occupation license, which would finally allow the opening of the stadium. In parallel, Montjuïc, where the club can dispose of the Olílpic Stadi until February thanks to an agreement with BSM (Barcelona Serveis Municipals), presents another problem: that same Sunday 28, at 22.00, the pyromusical is celebrated that ends the parties of La Mercè in the Avinguda of Queen Maria Cristina, at the foot of the Magic Mountain.
The great challenge appears on October 1, when Barcelona must face the PSG at home in Champions. There are only 15 days left. In the event that the first occupation license was achieved to reopen the stadium, it would be necessary to verify that phase 1A complies with the UEFA regulations, with details such as lighting, segregation with the rival fans, or other spaces of the stadium destined for the public, players or press, for example.
In the event that it is finally played in another stadium, such as Montjuïc, the UEFA Public Regulation is clear about the possibility of the change of headquarters. “From the league phase, a club must in principle all its competition matches in a single and same stage. In addition, any stage change between the play-offs and the league phase must be previously agreed with UEFA,” he explains. Yes, field could be changed as an exception, but in case of force majeure. “If at any time of the season the UEFA administration considers that a recess may not be in a position to host competition matches for any reason […] UEFA can consult with the association and the club affected and ask them to propose an alternative enclosure or stage, ”follows the regulation.
In November last year, the club ran into its non -returned in this regulation, in addition to the difficulties and costs of maintaining two facilities. “Once let’s go back to Camp Nou, it will be forever, not for a game. We will not have two open stadiums. When we return, we will not move,” the idea reinforced at the end of last year Joan Centelles, director of Operations of the Spanish Project Barça.
Everything, however, are hypothesis until the Camp Nou does not have all the relevant permits. The reality is imposed: three months after one year of the first date planned to return to the stadium, the Camp Nou still does not receive public, Montjuïc awaits in the background, and the Johan Cruyff, built for the female and base football, has become the unexpected momentary refuge of the First Division. And the Champions, in doubt.
