Barcelona City Council doubtful about Spotify Camp Nou hosting Joan Gamper Trophy match | OneFootball

Barcelona are determined to kickstart the return to Camp Nou by hosting the Joan Gamper Trophy match in early August.

Although the stadium won’t be match-ready for La Liga action until September, Barcelona are hopeful it can hold the customary Joan Gamper trophy match as an ideal test run of sorts.

Barcelona are set to lock horns with Cesc Fabregas’ Como in the Joan Gamper trophy, and the match is scheduled on August 10.

Barcelona City Council not convinced

As per MARCA, however, the city council has cast serious doubt on this timeline, putting the brakes on the club’s celebratory announcements.

The primary issue is a bureaucratic one: the stadium cannot legally host fans without a municipal license, which has not yet been granted.

Barcelona are facing a race against time to get the stadium match-ready for Joan Gamper trophy (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Barcelona’s First Deputy Mayor, Laia Bonet, clarified that the club must first complete the construction work on the first and second galleries before they can even apply for the required “provisional first occupancy permit.”

“We’re not at that point today, and we need time to be able to verify that the stadium is in condition to welcome the public once the works are completed,” she said.

Bonet, in fact, made it very clear that the council “does not work with forecasts but with realities.”

This means Barcelona must expedite the stadium works if they are to hold the Joan Gamper trophy at Camp Nou.

The Catalans remain hopeful and have already started a return home campaign, based on the assumption that the stadium will be ready to host a match on August 10.

Barcelona are even confident about hosting the match with an initial capacity of 60,000 supporters.