Barcelona have been criticised after flying their men’s team to the United States in business class, with the women’s team booked into economy on the same flight.

Players from both teams posted pictures on social media of the flight together to the US, where both teams are playing pre-season friendlies, but it has emerged that the women’s team returned to their seats in economy soon after.

Fans of the women’s team spotted that the pictures being posted on Instagram showed that they were in economy seats, while the men – some of whom hailed from the ‘B Team’, all appeared to receive preferential treatment in business class.

One fan account questioned why senior players from both teams were not placed in business if there was a shortage of seats, but Barcelona forward Alexia Putellas defended the decision and claimed that the women’s team had been added to the trip at short notice, meaning that there was not enough time to change the plans as the club had "to organise everything practically at the last minute".

One of many tweets from a Barcelona fan account named @BarcaWomen read: “Now, I understand that there are limited seats at the pointy end of the plane, but when Barça B men's players are getting Business Class seats ahead of the senior Barça Femení players, this does not scream Equality.”

Barcelona also said that there were not enough seats in business class to accommodate the women’s team, but to make up for that the club booked two-to-three seats for each player in economy.

Putellas also told Mundo Deportivo that the men’s and women’s senior teams trained together while on the tour, and it’s added that their next flight, from Portland to Los Angeles, will feature enough first class seats to accommodate both teams.

"It's something that reaffirms Barca's commitment to women's football," Putellas said of the joint-training session.