Barcelona’s Dani Olmo and Pau Victor have been cleared to play for the rest of the season despite La Liga saying the club did not have the funds to register the pair.
Barcelona were granted temporary licences to register the players in the summer but those were later revoked by La Liga. But Spain’s National Sports Council (CSD) has now ruled that the pair’s registrations remain valid.
Dani Olmo and Pau Victor will be eligible to play for Barcelona for the remainder of the season following a ruling by Spain’s National Sports Council (CSD).Barcelona were granted temporary licences to register Olmo and Victor in the summer, but they were later revoked by La Liga, which said the club had failed to provide evidence of their compliance with the league’s financial rules.
The CSD allowed Barcelona to temporarily reinstate the players after an appeal before La Liga said on Wednesday that the club did not have the financial capacity to register the pair.
But the CSD has now annulled the agreement between La Liga and the country’s football federation (RFEF), saying the two players’ registrations remain valid.It said the RFEF acknowledged that “there is no federation resolution that agreed to the cancellation of the licences” and that its decision not to grant a licence is “null and void”.
La Liga said it will appeal the decision.
In a statement on Wednesday, La Liga said it had lowered Barcelona’s wage cap after irregularities with their end-of-year accounting for the 2024/25 season.Barcelona announced a deal to sell VIP boxes at the revamped Camp Nou for a reported €100 million in January, saying the money would give them room to register Olmo.
But La Liga said this was not included in any financial statements.”No amount from the [VIP box deal] is ultimately recorded in the profit and loss accounts, contrary to what had been certified by the club and the auditor at the time of said transaction,” the statement added.Olmo was part of Barcelona’s academy before leaving to play for Dinamo Zagreb and RB Leipzig but was reunited with the Catalan club, who paid £52m for the Spaniard last summer.
The 26-year-old has impressed since his summer move, scoring seven league goals and helping his side to the top of the table.Victor also came through Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy and has played 22 times this term, with five of those appearances coming since the ruling.
Olmo was ruled out of Barcelona’s Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night through injury, but their 1-0 win on the night was enough to see them progress to the final where they will take on Real Madrid. Up next for Hansi Flick’s men is a home clash in La Liga against Real Betis before they continue their quest for UEFA Champions League glory when they face Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-final first leg on Wednesday, April 9.
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