Barcelona cancel Japan tour match over promoter’s contract breach

Written by Pavel Kateliev

Pavel Kateliev is a popular sport journalist, particularly in the fields of football, basketball, tennis, and hockey. He writes daily for Sportingpedia and his work has been translated into at least 20 languages and featured on renowned outlets such as BBC, Yahoo, MCN, Sun, and Evening News, in Italian, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

, | Updated: July 24, 2025

Key Takeaways:

Barcelona withdraw from Japan trip after promoter breaches contract
Match against Vissel Kobe officially cancelled
Korean tour also in doubt unless conditions are met

Spanish champions Barcelona announced that they will not play their planned pre-season match in Japan due to “serious breaches of contract by the promoter” Reuters reported.

🚨 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 Satement from the organizing company of Barcelona's Tour in Korea and Japan:
"To all media outlets around the world:
My name is Ham Sol, and I am the General Manager and official promoter of Barcelona's 2025 Asia Tour from D-Drive company. The match between… pic.twitter.com/mu5Y2E6ScI
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) July 23, 2025

Barcelona were scheduled to travel today for the match against Vissel Kobe but confirmed they will not make the trip. The club did not identify the promoter nor disclose details about the contractual violations.

Two other fixtures from Barca’s summer tour in South Korea — against FC Seoul on 31 July and Daegu FC on 4 August — are now also in question. The club made it clear that these matches will only go ahead if “the promoter fulfils certain conditions.”

“Barcelona regrets this incident and the impact it will have on the many Barca fans in Japan” the club stated.