Bilbao, Barcelona expected to generate large crowds for pair of Palestine friendlies
Friendlies against Euskadi and Catalunya expected to draw the largest crowds on neutral ground since the Asian Cup
Palestine are set to continue their preparations for the Arab Cup play-in match later this month with a pair of marquee friendlies. Basque Country (Euskadi) and Catalunya will host Palestine on November 15th and 18th, respectively. The stadiums used will be fixtures of the Spanish topflight- Athletic Club’s San Mamés and FC Barcelona’s temporary home- the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys de Montjuïc.
There was slight concern in regards to the possibility of Catalunya hosting Palestine in Montjuïc earlier this week. Unlike the match against Euskadi no information had been provided in regards to kickoff times or ticket sales further casting doubt on whether the match would go ahead.
“Just compare it to the Basque Country-Palestine match…. for which 35,000 tickets were sold on the first day they went on sale,” Luca Gervasoni, spokesperson for ACT x Palestine, told ARA. “There, the administrations and institutions work together to ensure the match is a success. In contrast, in Catalonia, there is a network of entities that are hindering the match from taking place at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, and we don’t want to point the finger at any one in particular because we don’t know who is responsible,” he added.
The match could have been moved 100 km down the coast to Tarragona or to the satellite town of Sabadell. Fortunately, for all those involved it has now been concerned that the game will be played in Montjuïc after a campaign drew the commitment of over 18,000 to purchase tickets for the friendly between Catalunya and Palestine.
A meeting earlier this week between all the parties responsible for organizing the match put an end to the doubt. The parties involved in organizing the match (the Catalan Government, the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Football Federation, FC Barçelona, and Act x Palestine) met on Tuesday morning at the Department of Sports to resolve the main point of contention which was reducing the budget for playing the match at Montjuïc, which the FCF initially estimated at “more than 600,000 euros.”
Kickoff is set for 18:30 local time on Tuesday, November 18th. Tickets have yet to go on sale but like San Mamés the capacity of the stadium stands at more than 50,000.
The first match is trending towards a sell out with less than 5,000 tickets available at the time of writing.