La Liga is unhappy with the decision made by the Spanish government’s high sports council to allow Dani Olmo and Pau Victor to continue playing for the club this season.
The league had earlier ruled that Barca did not have the salary space to register new signings, and therefore cancelled the two players’ sporting licenses. However, after Barcelona’s appeal, the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) – Spain’s high council of sports – suspended the decision, allowing the players to continue featuring for the club until the end of season.
La Liga has announced that it will appeal this decision, saying that it was “not in accordance with the law.”
How did events unfold between La Liga and Barcelona?
According to La Liga, Barcelona hired an unnamed auditor on 31 December 2024. The auditor was tasked by the club with providing a certificate showing that they sold VIP seating worth €100m to Middle Eastern investors. It was this certificate that proved that Barcelona had met the financial criteria to register Olmo and Victor for the second half of the season.
However, the filing was deemed late by La Liga. Additionally, the unnamed auditor worked with the club for only three days between 31 December and 3 January 2025. Barca had two other auditors immediately before and after that time.
The club presented all three auditors’ statements to La Liga, but only the unnamed auditor’s report reflected the extra €100m. As a result, the league revoked the two players’ licenses.
But after a review, the CSD announced yesterday that the two players could keep their licenses till the end of the season.
What will La Liga do next and how will it affect Barcelona?
La Liga released a statement mere hours after CSD’s decision saying it will appeal the verdict.
The conflicting positions of La Liga and the CSD appear to be a matter of legal technicalities. The CSD said that La Liga’s Monitoring Committee lacks the jurisdiction to revoke licenses. However, La Liga argues that Olmo and Victor’s licenses automatically expired at the end of 2024, and therefore no action was required from the Monitoring Committee to cancel or revoke them.
Meanwhile, Barcelona President Joan Laporta said this was “another attempt to destabilise us”. The Spaniard, who is serving his second tenure at the top office, insisted that the club have “followed each and every one of the requirements demanded by the federation and by La Liga”.
These developments reflect the continued wrangling between Spain’s premier club football association and one of its most decorated sides. As Barcelona prepare for a busy summer to bolster their squad, it is to be expected that La Liga will remain very strict with them.
It remains to be seen how this may or may not affect the club’s ability to secure their top transfer targets.
