Barcelona manager Xavi misses flight for pre-season tour of USA
Barcelona manager Xavi misses flight for club’s pre-season tour of United States due to ‘administrative and passport reasons’ – as Catalan giants prepare to take on Inter Miami and Real Madrid next week
- Barcelona manager Xavi missed his flight to Miami ahead of pre-season tour
- ‘Administrative and passport’ issues meant Spaniard was not allowed on plane
- Having played matches in Iran for Al-Sadd, he needs a special permit for U.S
- Issue should be resolved in the coming days and in time for Inter Miami clash
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández will join up with the team next week after visa problems meant he missed the trip to Miami.
Xavi represented his former club Al Sadd several times in Iran and therefore needed special permission to enter the US.
Barcelona said ‘administrative problems’ had kept their coach grounded. The error is an embarrassing oversight for a club accustomed to pre-season tours in countries with very specific entry rules.
Barcelona boss Xavi did not travel with the squad to America due to ‘administrative’ issues
The Catalan side are scheduled to kick-start their U.S tour on Wednesday against Inter Miami
Barcelona are due to play Inter Miami on Tuesday and the club hope his problems will be resolved by then.
It could have been worse for Barcelona – only the coach has been denied entry because he visited Iran as a player and not as Al Sadd’s coach with the rest of his current coaching team.
The rest of the first-team flew out on Friday but Xavi will likely arrive in the States on Monday evening – as the situation cannot be resolved in the middle of a weekend.
This should give the Spaniard enough time to lead the final training session ahead of their second game of pre-season game against David Beckham’s Miami.
The Spaniard spent four seasons playing for Qatari club Al-Sadd – which caused entry issues
After Miami, the Catalan side will travel to Las Vegas where they’ll face Real Madrid meet on US soil for the second time in history, following their 2017 encounter at the Hard Rock Stadium.
They’ll then head to Dallas to face Juventus before ending the tour against the New York Red Bulls on July 30th.
Xavi will want to get to work with the first-team squad as soon as possible after announcing the signing of Leeds winger Raphinha – as well as closing in on Bayern Munich’s talisman Robert Lewandowski.
Raphinha was officially unveiled as a Barcelona player at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper
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