Barcelona chief confirms Camp Nou return timeline

Barcelona institutional vice-president Elena Fort has reiterated that the club will be returning to Camp Nou before the end of the calendar year.

Renovation work on the famous stadium has seen Barcelona temporarily relocate to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, centrepiece of the 1992 Olympics hosted in the city.

Barca were initially only intending to spend one season at the Lluis Companys. But since the date to return to Camp Nou was pushed back to November of next season, it hasn't moved.

"We are on time, very happy. At the end of 2024, we will be at the Spotify Camp Nou," Fort said in her latest update on the stadium redevelopment, speaking to RAC1.

In October of last year, Fort had given a slightly more detailed summary.

"In November 2024 we will return to Spotify Camp Nou with an approximate capacity of 65,000 spectators between the first and second tiers, with 50% of the VIP capacity and the definitive museum open," she explained.

"The bulk of all the work will be carried out in 2024, including the core main structure and the roof."

The project won’t be completely finished by the time Barcelona are back at Camp Nou, but being able to return there with even a 65,000 capacity is better for revenue than at the Lluis Companys any longer than is absolutely necessary as the capacity is limited to 49,472.

By the time work is fully done, the new and improved Camp Nou will be big enough for 105,000 people, up from the 99,000 it could hold before the redevelopment. The anticipated time frame for that remains the start of the 2025/26 season.

Very few sports stadiums in the entire world are bigger than that - only college stadiums in Michigan and Pennsylvania, North Korea's national stadium and the Narendra Modi Stadium in India, the latter a cricket venue that boast the largest capacity on the planet at 132,000.

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