Barcelona celebrated their 125th anniversary last Friday, an occasion that was supposed to be marked the following day by their return to a renovated Camp Nou for their clash against Las Palmas. However it now looks as if the earliest that will be possible is February, although some estimates say it may not be ready for use until the end of the season.
The Blaugrana had in theory planned for delays, and in their contract with Turkish construction firm Limak, there was a clause that noted if the stadium was not ready for partial use by the 29th of November, then the Catalan side would be due €1m for every day beyond that finishing date.
Barcelona are closely following striker Omar Marmoush, and even attended the game between Eintracht Frankfurt and Midtjylland to see him in action. @tipsbladet
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 1, 2024
Sport say that they will not enforce that fine for various reasons, in an article that has since been deleted. The first reason being that if it were to go to court, Barcelona would have to factor in delays that they had to deal with in planning permission. Secondly, they are happy with the work that Limak are carrying out, while they also did not want to sour relations with the construction firm, feeling this would not help the stadium to get finished.
Given Barcelona’s financial situation, it certainly will raise eyebrows that they are not taken advantage of seemingly easy source of income. It may be that they feel they are on shaky legal ground. Barcelona are relying on their return to Camp Nou for a major boost financially as it is, given the increased capacity, and reduced cost of running it.