Barcelona and the French National Rugby League have reached an agreement for the 2016 Top 14 final to be played at the Camp Nou. It will be the first time the venue has been used for a sport other than football. The match will be held on June 24 (Barcelona). The AFP reported French Rugby Federation (FFR) VP Serge Blanco found “a serious problem” with the 2015-2016 Top 14 Final "being played at Camp Nou in Barcelona and not in France." According to Blanco, the decision, announced Tuesday by the league "due to the impossibility of organizing the final in the main French stadiums which are reserved for the Euro 2016 football round of sixteen, further 'supports' the idea of the FFR having its own stadium" by '18. Blanco: “This confirms and revives the idea of having a tool that will permit the Federation and the League [LNR] to have some kind of independence. ... Today we are homeless, and it’s pretty serious for a sport that has such notoriety and brings such an economic force in the country, not to be able to play its championship game (in France) when there are so many stadiums available” (AFP, 11/4).
