Forced to watch their El Clasico rivals claim loads of prize money at the FIFA Club World Cup for much of the 2025 summer, Barcelona fans were looking forward to seeing their club finally retake the field in preparation for the upcoming campaign.

Unfortunately, they’ll be forced to wait a bit longer as their first friendly against Vissel Kobe in Japan on July 27 has been called off.

Barcelona released a statement saying the match would not go on as originally planned, while offering the possibility of an alternative option at a different venue.

The Sporting News explains why the match was cancelled, whether it can be rearranged, and what the effects of the change would be.

MORE: Why Lionel Messi skipped the 2025 MLS All-Star game

Why was Barcelona friendly vs. Vissel Kobe in Japan cancelled?

According to the Barcelona statement released on Wednesday, their upcoming friendly against Vissel Kobe would not proceed as planned. The match was meant to be played on Sunday, July 26 at Noevir Stadium Kobe in Japan.

The club announced that they were “obliged to suspend its participation in the game…due to serious contractual breaches on behalf of the promoter.”

While the club did not dive into details about what those breaches may have been, Dario Sport in Spain has done extensive reporting on the subject. According to Sport, their South Korean promoter D Drive, who is in charge of arranging the entire Barcelona preseason tour, has itself thrown fellow promoter Yasuda Group under the bus, claiming that the Japanese company practiced “intentional fraud,” by “providing invalid and falsified documents, deceiving us by falsely claiming that the payment had already been transferred.”

However, Barcelona did offer a concession to allow the game to potentially still be played.

Requesting that “certain conditions be met by the promoter” to allow the game to continue, Barcelona claimed they would “consider readjusting the leg of the summer tour in South Korea” where they are already set to contest two other friendlies.

Thus, Barcelona have agreed to play the game in South Korea should they be satisfied in their unspecified requests, playing the match prior to their other two games already scheduled.

Barcelona preseason schedule

As it stands, with the Vissel Kobe match off, Barcelona will now begin its three-game preseason slate with a matchup against FC Seoul in South Korea on July 31, followed by another game against Daegu three days later.

They will then return home to meet Italian side Como, coached by former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas, at their secondary stadium, Johan Cruyff Stadium in Barcelona.

Barcelona begin their regular season with a La Liga match against Mallorca on August 16, set to play their first three matches all on the road. They will then open the newly renovated Camp Nou on September 14 against Valencia.