Barcelona have cancelled a pre-season friendly in Morocco because of the ongoing border crisis in Ceuta.

The Spanish champions were set to face local side Ittihad Riadi Tangier in north-western Morocco on 15 August as part of their preparations for the new campaign.

“In light of the current uncertainty and circumstances, FC Barcelona considers playing the match would be inappropriate,” said the club in a statement.

While the club did not specify the reason for the cancellation, BBC Sport understands the decision is linked to the situation in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave that borders Morocco on the North African coast.

About 78,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish territory from Morocco by sea last week, resulting in 100 deaths and sparking tensions among EU nations who share open borders.

While a large majority of the migrants have since returned to Morocco, between 3,000 and 5,000 still remain in Ceuta.

Italy had suspended its Schengen arrangement with Spain, backed by Finland and Denmark, while the Czech Republic called for Spain’s membership to be temporarily suspended.

Barca also had a friendly with Preston North End cancelled after a pre-season training camp in the UK, where they played Birmingham City.

They are scheduled to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday in the Italian city of Udine and will also host Egypt’s Al Ahly on 19 August.

Hansi Flick’s side will begin their La Liga title defence against Elche on 23 August.

This summer is a pivotal one for Crystal Palace with a new manager, a big departure in Lacroix and also another year of European football.

The Eagles are in the Europa League this season following their Conference League win last season and with that comes financial obligations.

Palace have to comply with Uefa’s squad cost ratio (SCR) when trying to bring in players during this transfer window.

The SCR obligations are stricter than those of the Premier League and Palace have to deal with the rules put in place by Uefa, which cap spending on wages, transfers and agent fees at 70% of club revenue.

In the Premier League, for clubs not competing in Europe, they can spend up to 85% of their revenue.

Uefa fears smaller clubs will almost always face problems because they will have to up their spending to build a squad to play in Europe but – as per rules – cannot spend the same percentage of revenue as their league rivals.

The Eagles have not yet paid a fee for a player this window but are moving towards a deal for 19-year-old Real Salt Lake winger Zavier Gozo.

Palace have also produced a couple of bits of shrewd business in the market, signing Tomiyasu on a free transfer and Mingueza after his contract at Celta Vigo expired.

There is also the possibility the Eagles could sell one or two members of their squad to generate funds and there has been interest in Brennan Johnson, who only joined the club in January.