Pressure from Al-Khelaifi and ECA meant Roma pulled out of Gamper

There was shock news on Monday when Roma unilaterally pulled out of the Gamper Trophy with Barcelona. The Conference League winners were going to go to the Camp Nou to play in the summer fixture. 

However, the Italian club said that the reason was their pre-season calendar and that the game had to change date. The real reason was because Roma had received pressure from Nasser Al-Khelaifi and ECA. 

The PSG president and the organisation got in contact with the Roma board ordering them not to play the match due to Barca's support for the Super League. The Parisian side strongly oppose Florentino Perez's project as well the numerous clubs which are not included in the competition. 

Both believe the Super League is a rival to the Champions League and therefore there were calls to call off Roma's trip to Barcelona. The cancellation means Jose Mourinho will not return to the Camp Nou as Roma coach, something he had done many times in the past as coach of bitter rivals Real Madrid. The game was meant to take place on 6th August.