Barcelona manager Xavi is missing the flight for the club’s pre-season tour of the United States for “administrative and fitting reasons” – as the Catalan giants prepare to face Inter Miami and Real Madrid next week
- Barcelona manager Xavi missed his pre-season flight to Miami
- “Administrative and passport issues” meant the Spaniard was not allowed on the plane
- After playing for Al-Sadd in Iran, he needs a special permit to enter the United States
- The issue should be resolved in the coming days and in time for the Inter Miami clash
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández is set to join the team next week after missing the trip to Miami due to visa issues.
Xavi represented his ex-club Al Sadd in Iran several times and therefore needed a special permit to enter the USA.
Barcelona said ‘administrative problems’ kept their coach down. The mistake is an embarrassing oversight for a club used to pre-season tours in countries with very specific entry rules.
Barcelona manager Xavi did not travel to America with the team for ‘administrative’ reasons
The Catalans are set to start their US tour against Inter Miami on Wednesday
Barcelona play Inter Miami on Tuesday and the club hope their problems will be resolved by then.
Things could have been worse for Barcelona – only the manager was denied entry because he was visiting Iran as a player and not as Al Sadd’s manager with the rest of his current coaching staff.
The rest of the first team flew out on Friday but Xavi is likely to arrive in the States on Monday night – as the situation cannot be resolved in the middle of the weekend.
That should give the Spaniard enough time to referee the final training session ahead of the second pre-season game against David Beckham’s Miami.
The Spaniard played four seasons for Qatari club Al-Sadd – causing problems with entry
After Miami, the Catalan side travel to Las Vegas, where they meet Real Madrid on US soil for the second time in history after their 2017 encounter at Hard Rock Stadium.
They then travel to Dallas to take on Juventus before concluding the tour on July 30 against the New York Red Bulls.
Xavi will want to get to work with the first-team as soon as possible after announcing the signing of Leeds winger Raphinha – and closing in on Bayern Munich’s talisman Robert Lewandowski.
Raphinha was officially unveiled as a Barcelona player at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper
