Barcelona are to travel to Qatar for a friendly game against an as yet unconfirmed opponent on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
The game is being played as part of the controversial sponsorship deal between the Catalan club and Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), and comes during a rare open space in the calendar between Barcelona's La Liga games at home to Villarreal on Sunday, Feb. 1 and away at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, Feb. 8.
The news was confirmed via a club statement released on Barca's website.
"In between the two league games [against Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao], Barca will travel to Qatar for a friendly game against a team yet to be announced on Wednesday 4 February, as part of the agreement between the Club and Qatar Sports Investment," the statement said.
The Blaugrana were due to play a similar friendly game in Qatar in early 2014, but the trip was cancelled reportedly as the players needed to rest during one of the few free midweeks during this generally busy time of the season.
Previous fixtures played as part of the sponsorship deal were a friendly at Paris Saint-Germain, which is also owned by QSI, in August 2012. The next summer the squad travelled to the Middle East on the FC Barcelona Peace Tour, which saw Lionel Messi and company visit Palestine and Israel during their preseason preparations.
The sponsorship deal with QSI was signed by ex-Barca president Sandro Rosell, and has been heavily criticised by some Blaugrana figures, including Rosell's predecessor Joan Laporta. The future of the commercial arrangement, which is currently in place until 2016, is likely to be one of the major topics of discussion in the build-up to this summer's presidential election at the Camp Nou.