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FC Barcelona have cancelled their upcoming pre-season friendly against Japan’s Vissel Kobe, citing “serious contractual breaches” by the match promoter, raising doubts over the rest of their Asian tour.
The Spanish club was scheduled to face J-League side Vissel Kobe on Sunday before continuing their tour in South Korea with fixtures against FC Seoul on July 31 and Daegu FC on August 4. However, the Japan leg has now been scrapped.
“Barcelona announces that it has been obliged to suspend its participation in the game scheduled for next Sunday in Japan due to serious contractual breaches on behalf of the promoter,” the club said in a statement released late Wednesday. “Barcelona regrets this incident and the impact it will have on the many, many Barça fans in Japan.”
Vissel Kobe, where former Barcelona star Andrés Iniesta played in the latter years of his career, responded on Thursday by saying they are “currently investigating the situation” and offered apologies to fans and stakeholders.
The tour’s promoter, Seoul-based company D-Drive, sought to distance the Japan cancellation from the rest of the tour. In a statement, D-Drive insisted the South Korea matches would go ahead as planned and blamed Japanese organizers for the disruption.
“This is an issue that stems solely from the Japanese side and has no connection whatsoever with the Korea tour,” the company said. “All scheduled activities in South Korea will take place as planned, without any disruptions.”
Barcelona have not specified the nature of the alleged contractual violations, and it remains unclear whether the fallout will affect the club’s broader commercial and fan engagement plans in Asia.
