Catalonia men's national football team to play Mali on June 8

The Catalan men's national football team will play against Mali on June 8.

The Catalan Football Federation, which is not allowed to play official matches, regularly organizes friendlies – the last one to date took place on May 25, 2022 against Jamaica in Girona, after a three-year gap.

The place and time for the upcoming game against the African team, ranked world's 53 by FIFA, are yet to be confirmed.

The men coached by former FC Barcelona player Gerard López will pay tribute to Bojan Krkic, who has announced its retirement after playing for teams including Barça, Roma, Milan, Ajax, Stoke City and Vissel Kobe.

The forward has played eight time for the Catalan national team, with seven goals.

Bojan missed the 2022 game, but other top-class stars performed, including Hector Bellerín, Marc Bartra, Riqui Puig, Dani Olmo, Marc Cucurella, Gerard Deulofeu, Oriol Romeu and Arnau Martínez.

Mali on road to play 2023 Africa Cup

As for Mali, it will start its June international matches with Catalonia, before it continues its 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification games later in the month – they are on road to go through the main stage of the championship, since they are so far ranked first of their group with two fixtures remaining.

Mali's coach is Éric Sékou Chelle, and its footballers that could play the friendly include Cheick Doucouré (Crystal Palace), Mohamed Camara (AS Mónaco), Amadou Haidara (RB Leipzig), Moussa Djenepo (Southampton FC) and El Bilal Touré (UD Almeria).

Basketball

Catalonia will also have both its male and female basketball teams playing friendlies this spring.

As for the women, they will pay against Ukraine on May 13 in Girona's Fontajau court after a five-year gap, while the men will feature on June 21 in Manresa's Nou Congost with the rival to be confirmed – their last game was played in June 2021.

The Catalan Basketball Federation is also regularly organizing friendlies since it is not allowed to compete officially either.