Forced to watch their El Clasico rivals claim loads of prize money at the FIFA Club World Cup for much of the 2025 summer, Barcelona fans were looking forward to seeing their club finally retake the field in preparation for the upcoming campaign.
It seemed they’d be forced to wait a bit longer as their first friendly against Vissel Kobe in Japan on July 27 was called off. Barcelona released a statement saying the match would not go on as originally planned, while offering the possibility of an alternative option at a different venue.
However, the issue has now been resolved in a timely enough manner to see the game returned to the fixture list, and it will go on as scheduled.
The Sporting News explains why the match was cancelled, how it was resolved, and what the effects of the change would be.
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Why was Barcelona friendly vs. Vissel Kobe in Japan cancelled?
According to the Barcelona statement released on Wednesday, their upcoming friendly against Vissel Kobe would not proceed as planned. The match was meant to be played on Sunday, July 26 at Noevir Stadium Kobe in Japan.
The club announced that they were “obliged to suspend its participation in the game…due to serious contractual breaches on behalf of the promoter.”
While the club did not dive into details about what those breaches may have been, Dario Sport in Spain has done extensive reporting on the subject. According to Sport, their South Korean promoter D Drive, who is in charge of arranging the entire Barcelona preseason tour, has itself thrown fellow promoter Yasuda Group under the bus, claiming that the Japanese company practiced “intentional fraud,” by “providing invalid and falsified documents, deceiving us by falsely claiming that the payment had already been transferred.”
Barcelona preseason friendly in Japan back on
After the chaos on Wednesday, Barcelona have reversed course.
According to AS, former Barcelona shirt sponsor and current Vissel Kobe sponsor Rakuten have intervened and fronted Barcelona the money to revitalise the match and see it played as scheduled.
However, refreshed travel plans are now required, with the team not expected to arrive in Japan until the day before the revived fixture.
Barcelona preseason schedule
As it stands, with the Vissel Kobe match back on, Barcelona will now begin its four-game preseason slate as scheduled before traveling to South Korea for a pair of matches.
They will then return home to meet Italian side Como, coached by former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas, at their secondary stadium, Johan Cruyff Stadium in Barcelona.
Barcelona begin their regular season with a La Liga match against Mallorca on August 16, set to play their first three matches all on the road. They will then open the newly renovated Camp Nou on September 14 against Valencia.
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | Location |
| Sun, Jul. 27 | 10 a.m. | Vissel Kobe vs. Barcelona | NOEVIR Stadium (Kobe, Japan) |
| Thu, Jul. 31 | 7 a.m. | FC Seoul vs. Barcelona | Seoul World Cup Stadium (Seoul, South Korea) |
| Mon, Aug. 4 | 7 a.m. | Daegu vs. Barcelona | Daegu Stadium (Daegu, South Korea) |
| Sun, Aug. 10 | 3 p.m. | Barcelona vs. Como | Johan Cruyff Stadium (Barcelona, Spain) |
