Barcelona to play Japan friendly

Barcelona will play a pre-season friendly in Japan on Sunday as scheduled, J-League side Vissel Kobe said, despite the Spanish club initially cancelling the match, citing unspecified "serious contractual breaches".

The announcement comes after Barcelona said this week it had to "suspend its participation in the game" in Japan "due to serious contractual breaches on behalf of the promoter". 

The Spanish giants were scheduled to play Vissel Kobe on Sunday before travelling to South Korea to face FC Seoul on July 31 and Daegu FC on August 4.

The Japanese team said in a statement on Friday that "following careful discussions with the relevant parties, the match scheduled for Sunday... will be held as planned."

Vissel Kobe, for whom Barcelona and Spain great Andres Iniesta played at the end of his career, said there were "contractual issues" and they had been working with their owner "to coordinate with the relevant parties, including Barcelona, in order to realise the match."

Barcelona shared a video of the team stepping out of a plane on Saturday on X, with the caption "Konnichiwa, Japan!"

"We are really excited to be in Japan," they said in another post.

nf/mtp