FC Barcelona scrap Morocco trip as Ceuta crisis heightens diplomatic tensions

FC Barcelona have abandoned plans to play a friendly in Tangier on 15 August, citing a “context of uncertainty” that the club says means the match can no longer be staged in suitable conditions.

The Catalan club confirmed the decision on Thursday evening in a brief statement, but did not provide further details or explicitly link the cancellation to the worsening situation between Morocco and Spain.

“Given the current context of uncertainty, FC Barcelona considers that the conditions are not in place for this match to take place,” the club said.

Barcelona had announced only a few days earlier that it was finalising arrangements for a pre-season fixture in Tangier. The Moroccan opponent had never been officially confirmed, although Ittihad Tanger had regularly been identified as the most likely team to face the Spanish club.

Several Catalan media outlets reported that club representatives had travelled to Tangier to assess the situation before Barcelona’s leadership decided to abandon the project. The fixture could have generated several million euros for Barca.

The cancellation comes during a particularly strained period in relations between Morocco and Spain, with tensions centred on Ceuta.

The Spanish enclave, located on Moroccan territory and less than 100 kilometres from Tangier, has experienced a major influx of migrants arriving from Morocco in recent days. Spanish authorities have reported tens of thousands of irregular crossings in a matter of days, with the total said to be more than 70,000.

Several dozen people are also reported to have died while attempting to reach Ceuta, including some who tried to make the journey by sea.

The migration crisis has triggered fresh diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat. While FC Barcelona has not drawn a direct connection between those events and its decision, the broader uncertainty appears to have influenced the club’s plans.

The Tangier fixture was intended to be one of the final stages of Barcelona’s summer preparations. It would also have carried a strong symbolic significance because of the historic links between northern Morocco and Spain.

Barcelona will now continue its pre-season schedule elsewhere. The club is due to take part in a triangular tournament in Udine on Saturday, facing Udinese and Nottingham Forest.

That event will be followed by the Trophee Joan Gamper on 19 August, when Barcelona are scheduled to play Al-Ahly.

The planned Tangier match had been expected to form part of the club’s preparations ahead of the new campaign, but its withdrawal leaves Barcelona with one fewer fixture before the final pre-season test at the Trophee Joan Gamper.