FC BARCELONA spokesman Josep Vives has blamed 'logistical problems' for the fact that the women's team travelled in tourist class on their flight to the USA whilst the men's team enjoyed the full comforts of business class.
“We hadn't initially taken into account the idea of a mixed-team trip, as this is something unprecedented – I can't remember any other clubs having done what Barça just did, their premier male and female teams sharing a tour,” he told the media in response to the international outrage over the apparent 'male privilege'.
Vives said there were 'not enough seats in business class for everyone'.
“On internal flights we subsequently booked, there were sufficient business class seats for both teams.
“It was not a question of who was more deserving, merely one of strategy and the growth of and investment in women's sports, especially female professional football.”
FC Barcelona's director for women's football, María Teixidor, said the club had “arranged for its female players to travel with its male players so that, in the not-too-distant future, the women would be able to travel business class on their own separate flight.”
But the club seemed unable to clarify why, in the absence of enough business class seats, the male team had been given priority over the female side.
