At a time when Barcelona are still under tight watch from footballing organisations over their Financial Fair Play limit, the club have relied heavily on marketing and friendlies to generate fresh revenues.
This has led the club to make a habit of playing mid-season or post-season friendlies whenever the schedule allows.
After backing out of a potential €5 million friendly in Libya during the October international break, a new, more lucrative opportunity had emerged.
The club were said to be in talks for a friendly in Peru this December, worth a reported €7-8 million.
Peru friendly in jeopardy
However, according to SPORT, this lucrative payday faces a significant scheduling conflict.
The main obstacle is the collective bargaining agreement with the AFE (Spanish Footballers’ Association), which strictly governs the players’ Christmas break.
The AFE agreement stipulates that no matches of any kind of official competition will be played during the period from December 23 to January 3, with both dates inclusive. It also guarantees a minimum of 5 consecutive rest days.
Joan Laporta, Barcelona president
Another day, another problem with the AFE. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
This creates a logistical nightmare. Barcelona are scheduled to play their 17th LaLiga match against Villarreal on the weekend of December 20th/21st.
After the club was already forced to cancel the planned La Liga match in Miami, it is unlikely Barcelona would seek another confrontation with the AFE.
While the Peru match is a friendly, not an “official” competition, the tight turnaround makes it nearly impossible.
Assuming Barça won’t violate the agreement, there is one narrow path forward. The only option would be to convince La Liga to schedule the Villarreal match on Friday, December 19th.
This would allow the team to travel and play a friendly against the Peruvian national team on Monday, December 22nd, just before the mandatory break begins.
Any other option, such as playing the league match on Saturday, the 20th, would likely violate the recommended 72-hour rest period between matches.