Barcelona are to travel to Japan eventually, despite announcing the exact opposite just 17 hours earlier. The Blaugrana have cancelled their friendly match against Vissel Kobe set for Sunday, but it seems they may well be in the city anyway.
The Catalan side had announced that they would not be heading to Japan as they had not been paid by the promoter for the friendly. This was followed by a statement from promoter D-Drive, which accused Japanese subcontractor Yasuda of fraud and non-payment, while backing Barcelona in their legal action.
Barcelona contingency plans
Barcelona were reportedly looking for a friendly on Sunday before traveling to South Korea in order to give their players a run out, with Hansi Flick reaching out to contacts in Germany. Late on Wednesday night, Vice-President Rafa Yuste told Jijantes (via MD) that they would not be traveling after being disrespected.
“We’re working to go to Korea. We’re not going to Japan because they haven’t respected the club; we’re defending the club’s interests. There are people who don’t respect the agreements.”
Despite the announcement, opponents Vissel Kobe were continuing to sell tickets for the game on Sunday.
Lamine x Rashford. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LWpevBX3TX
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 24, 2025
Friendly against Vissel Kobe will go ahead
The same outlet have now confirmed that the game will in fact go ahead. Jijantes had confirmed the friendly would take place, and Sport explain that Rakuten, former shirt sponsors for the Blaugrana, have agreed to pay the quantity of money missing from the deal – D-Drive had pointed to Yasuda failing to pay up. Rakuten were the organisation contracted to distribute the tickets.
Barcelona’s players had received a text message shortly before the announcement on Wednesday explaining that they would not be traveling to Kobe. Now the Catalan delegation will board a flight on Thursday or Friday morning local time.
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