FC Barcelona will not confirm their trip to South Africa for an international friendly with Mamelodi Sundowns until they have ‘enough payment guarantees’, Catalunya Ràdio reports.
Sundowns announced last week that the Spanish giants will be revisiting South Africa for a friendly match scheduled for May 16, 2018 at the FNB Stadium.
While Barcelona denied any knowledge of the proposed match twice this week when contacted by Goal, the encounter appears likely to go ahead as intially planned, provided Sundowns meet all their demands before it’s too late.
According to Goal sources, the club officials were ordered not to utter a word to the media about Sundowns’ invatation until everything is finalized. If there are no payment guarantees then the proposed match will not take place.
Independent Media in South Africa reports that Barcelona have demanded a fee of around R100 million to take part in the match.
With just seven days to go before the said match, it remains to be seen if everything will finalised just in time for the event to be a success.
Sundowns said the proposed match will form part of the Nelson Mandela’s Centenary celebrations. The former South African state president, who passed away in December 2013, would have turned 100 this year.
Furthermore, Catalunya Ràdio reports that Fifa president Gianni Infantino as well as former USA state president Barack Obama will be among the dignitaries attending the proposed match.
Meanwhile, Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) CEO Jacques Grobbelaar has announced ticket pricing for the encounter on his official Twitter account.
Grobbelaar’s tweet could simply mean that both Barcelona and Sundowns are close to reaching an agreement, and an official statement from the Catalans may be expected in the near future.
