The first team will play a friendly in Qatar in the first trimester of 2014

Spokesman Toni Freixa announced this Monday that FC Barcelona will play a friendly in Qatar during the first trimester of 2014. The date of the match, which was included in the agreement signed with Qatar Sports Investment in 2010, has yet to be set. Freixa explained that the “date will be announced shortly” and he noted that the contract calls for one match per year: the first was in Paris against PSG, the second was the clinic in Israel and Palestine and the third one will be in Qatar.

Agreement with the Chamber of Commerce

In addition, Freixa explained that the Board has approved the FC Barcelona kits for the 2014/15 season, and he added that “we won’t reveal them” until the appropriate time.

He also announced an agreement with the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce to promote “the country on the first team’s travels throughout the world.” He added: “We will use our time to promote business that have commercial interests in the countries Barça travel to.”

Other current events and issues

During the question period, Freixa talked about the various issues that have come up in the press. The first, on the allegations of Leo Messi’s father’s involvement in a money laundering and drugs scheme, he said, “we’re pleased that the Ministry of Interior has immediately denied the information published by a news outlet. The information published by the outlet is untrue.”

He added: “We want to express our concern because lately there’s been an effort to undermine the reputation of our athletes and our institutions. The Board, just as it as done in similar situations, will act strongly. We want to send a message that everything isn’t fair game and that we are aware of what is being produced.”

Freixa also answered questions regarding the contract Neymar Jr signed with FC Barcelona: “The Club has received absolutely nothing, we haven’t been notified of anything. In any event, this is about an operation in which we have been transparent from the very beginning. We said that we didn’t give certain details for reasons of confidentiality, but we are willing to give them if a judicial entity asks us to do so.”

Lastly, the spokesman weighed in on the news that the European Commission is set to investigate FC Barcelona for receiving illegal help: “Honestly, we don’t understand the basis of this investigation. We haven’t received anything and for us this is just news. We’re aware that the LFP has made a statement rejecting the possibility of this happening.”