2030 World Cup to offer potential relief to Barca's financial woes

For the first time, the World Cup spreads across three continents. Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will all host matches in 2030. To commemorate the inaugural tournament’s centennial anniversary of Uruguay 1930, South America will open the tournament. Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina will each host games.

While Spain and Morocco have yet to finalize their stadium choices, serious planning can now begin. In contrast, Spain has 15 stadiums in 13 different towns that might potentially host the tournament.

Each venue must accommodate at least 40,000 spectators. FIFA requires 60,000 for the Semifinals and 80,000 for the World Cup Final. That leaves Spain with just two potential venues. Those are Barcelona’s Camp Nou or Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu.

Camp Nou finishes by 2026

The 2030 World Cup will also have very beneficial financial effects for teams like Barcelona. These clubs may get a cash boost at a financially challenging moment. Camp Nou is getting a massive refurbishment in preparation for Spain’s first World Cup hosting gig since 1982.

Works on the Blaugrana’s legendary home will transform it into one of the sport’s most cutting-edge arenas. The final capacity exceeds 100,000 fans. Construction finishes in 2026.

Portion of $1.5bn destined for Barcelona from 2030 World Cup

As per the Catalan newspaper SPORT, in terms of money, the most essential thing is that the Spanish government plans to allocate at least $1.5 billion, of which $788m would go toward infrastructure and $714m would go toward administrative costs.

The teams donating their stadiums receive compensation to maintain pristine venues. Therefore, Barcelona earns a cut of the ticket sales and other matchday profits from its stadium.

President Joan Laporta will be pleased with these developments. The Spaniard is presently in charge of a financially troubled team that has recently pulled several ‘economic levers’ to pay for new players and sign new contracts.

PHOTO: IMAGO / NurPhoto