The LaLiga club has now received another payment tied to its controversial Camp Nou VIP seats deal, but questions linger.
Saved by the bell: how Barcelona secured another multimillion-dollar payment
Barcelona has received another $16.5 million payment linked to the package of VIP seats at the renovated Spotify Camp Nou that it sold to New Era Visionary, the company headed by controversial Moldovan businessman Ruslan Birladeanu, who is facing multiple fraud-related legal proceedings in his home country.
According to Spanish radio program Què t’hi jugues on Cadena SER, the payment forms part of the agreement under which New Era Visionary committed to pay a total of approximately $82 million (€70 million) for 350 VIP seats at the stadium.
Birladeanu made an initial payment of roughly $33 million (€28 million) in December 2024 before sending another $16.5 million (€14 million) in September 2025, leaving an outstanding balance of approximately $33 million (€28 million).
The deadline to pay the remaining amount was June 30, 2026. Faced with that obligation, New Era Visionary sold part of its VIP seat allocation to a Singapore-based business group, which paid $16.5 million (€14 million). That entire sum has now been transferred to Barcelona.
According to the same report, the final $16.5 million (€14 million) is also expected to be covered through the resale of the remaining seats to another investor, meaning the club is confident it will ultimately receive the full amount agreed in the original contract.
The agreement with New Era Visionary has been surrounded by controversy from the outset. When the deal was first announced, Barcelona described the company as a leader in the telecommunications sector before later retracting that claim. Birladeanu himself has also faced scrutiny due to the multiple legal cases pending against him in Moldova, including several involving alleged fraud.
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