After meeting with the Danish football association DBU and representatives from the European footballing body UEFA, Barcelona has decided to cancel its plans to open its very first year-round Scandinavian academy in Copenhagen this year.
The Spanish giant was due to launch its FCBEscola Copenhagen in Topdanmark Hallen in the capital’s western suburb of Ballerup in August, but DBU didn’t give its consent to the project and appealed to UEFA in an attempt to shut down the plans.
“The positive tone of the meeting, marked by the mutual respect between both institutions, has been very helpful to understand there are still issues to be discussed in further meetings,” Barcelona wrote.
“Therefore, after such thorough and open debate, we have reached the joint conclusion to stop the opening of any kind of permanent football establishment in Denmark without the previous consent of the DBU.”
READ MORE: FC Barcelona setting up shop in Ballerup
Summer camps to continue
The Spanish club underlined that the decision would not affect the summer camps that the club has held in Denmark since 2011.
Furthermore, FCB and DBU are now working on a new initiative to organise a joint football training activity in the near future.
“We can gain a lot of experience from FC Barcelona and vice versa,” said Steen Jørgensen, a spokesperson for DBU. “So it’s great that we can continue the dialogue. We hope for a continuing good co-operation with FC Barcelona.”
