Barcelona vice-president Rafa Yuste wades into pre-season tour debacle

Barcelona have had a troubling start to their pre-season schedule, with many doubts surrounding their trip to Japan and South Korea. Initially, the club confirmed that their tour was put on hold due to alleged contractual breaches, although it is still expected that they will travel in the next 24/48 hours.

Barcelona are less than pleased with the promoters of the tour, which is why there is now a chance that they do not travel to Japan. However, the club’s intention is to at least fulfil the South Korea leg of the trip, as has been confirmed by vice-president Rafa Yuste.

Yuste, who has been expected to leave Barcelona in favour of a move to Saudi Arabia, spoke to Jijantes (via MD) on the matter, during which he took the opportunity to hit out at the tour’s promoters.

“We are working to go to Korea. We are not going to Japan because they have not respected the club, we defend the interests of the club. There are people who do not respect the agreements.”

What’s the latest with Barcelona’s plans?

After revealing that the trip to Japan and South Korea had been out on hold, it emerges on Thursday that Barcelona would be travelling to east Asia in order to start their pre-season fixture schedule, with their opening match against Vissel Kobe still set to take place on Sunday.

However, Barcelona had decided not to travel on Thursday, despite that having been their plan. Instead, the intention is to jet out on Friday morning, as has been revealed by Diario AS. Should this happen, the match against Vissel Kobe should not be in doubt, although the preparations of Hansi Flick and his first team squad have been far from ideal ahead of their first action of the 2025-26 campaign.