FCBARCELONA.CAT

15.03.2010 17:40

Summer Tour Looks to Asia

Vanessa Forns

Speaking after the Delegate Commission meeting on Monday, Joan Oliver confirmed that the senior football squad summer tour would be focussed on Asia. However, the Club’s plans will be affected by the World Cup.

The Club’s Director General confirmed on Monday that Barça’s summer tour is planned for Asia, though he emphasized: “It’s not easy to close the different agreements”. Mr Oliver explained that the South Africa World Cup (from mid June to mid July), which will obviously involve many Barça players, would have a direct impact on the Club’s plans.

Negotiations ongoing

According to Mr Oliver: "The players have a right to 30 days’ holiday and the coaches want it to be that way as they consider it an essential aspect. Also, a FIFA match has been marked out for 15th August. So we have a window in the first week of August. Negotiations are going on”.

Summer training camp

As for wider plans for the summer period, Joan Oliver announced a change in the pre-season summer training camp: “The function of the training camp is to bring players together again after the summer and settle in the new faces. It’ll be around 20th July and it’s more than likely that the majority of them will still be on holiday. This camp will certainly have a simpler format than in previous years”.

Possible income increase

Turning to financial matters, the director general announced that Barça may finish the season with income of 410 million euros, five more than the initial budget.

He assured reporters: "If we manage to get through the Champions League quarterfinals then this income could increase”.

Barça and Gramenet

Coming back to sporting matters, Joan Oliver confirmed that FC Barcelona has cancelled the agreement with local club Gramenet "due to the repeated infringements by Grama".

Tickets for all online

Finally, Mr Oliver confirmed that, as an exceptional measure, non-members would be able to purchase tickets for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Stuttgart online: “There are all kinds of tickets left. The ‘Seient Lliure’ system is working reasonably well”.