Barcelona to move to Olympic Stadium in 2023-24 as Camp Nou gets renovated

Barcelona on Thursday confirmed that plans to remodel the Camp Nou had been approved and that they would play their home games in 2023-2024 season not in their iconic stadium, but at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium.

“Renovation work on the Camp Nou, the epicentre of the Espai Barça project, will begin this June, as soon as the football season has ended, and in accordance with the building permit approved this morning,” the Catalan giants said in an official statement released on Thursday.

“The work will focus on the first and second tier, technological aspects, the environs of the stadium, and exterior urbanisation,” Barcelona said. 

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“Actions inside the Camp Nou will include the demolition of the additional structure in the South Goal zone where the Medical Centre was located, restoration work, anti-carbonation and waterproofing of the stands, as well as structural finishes and the improvement and renovation of retransmission systems,” the club added, explaining the renovation plans for the Camp Nou.

While Barcelona had initially planned to start the renovations at the end of this season, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the consequent economic uncertainty drove club president Joan Laporta to push back the renovation by a season.

Barcelona will continue to play at the Camp Nou in the 2022-2023 season, while renovations of the first and second tiers of the stadium go on. Work on the two tiers will begin this June after the conclusion of the current season.

After the new first and second tiers are completed, work will begin on the third tier in the summer of 2023.

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“The demolition of the third tier will therefore go ahead in the summer of 2023, which will win time given the current uncertainty of prices, and will ensure that the Camp Nou can operate at virtually full capacity next season. Demolition any earlier would have meant having to play the 2022/23 season with just 50% of capacity,” Barcelona explained in its statement.

While renovations go on at the 99,354-seater Camp Nou, Barcelona will miss out on a significant chunk of home support as the Olympic Stadium, which was the venue for the 1992 Olympics, only has a capacity of 55,926.

Renovations to the Camp Nou are expected to be fully completed by the 2025-2026 season.