Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor have been granted temporary playing registrations as Spain’s top sports court continues to analyse Barcelona’s case against LaLiga and the Spanish Football Federation [RFEF].
The Consejo Superior de Deportes [CSD] has ruled that Olmo and Víctor should both be available for selection until there is a definitive ruling in the case. Neither player was listed in the squad for Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday.
LaLiga said it disagreed with the CSD’s decision in a statement, adding that it was considering appealing.
“The content of the resolution will be studied carefully in order to present the appropriate appeals, without prejudice to expressing its absolute disagreement with it,” it said.
After the Super Cup win, manager Hansi Flick said it was a huge relief to his side ahead of the game.
“I am really happy for these two guys, but I am also happy for the whole team,” Flick said. “After the information, you can see what happens in the bus, it was good. I think the whole club is very happy for this decision, for this right decision.
“[Olmo and Victor] are happy. Not only I’m happy, also they are happy. It was a good signal for us before the match because everyone wants to show also that we are a team and we win also for them.”
Olmo and Víctor were both unregistered by LaLiga on Dec. 31 after Barça missed a deadline to prove they were compliant with the league’s financial fair play [FFP] rules.
LaLiga eventually confirmed Barça had shown they were able to fulfil certain FFP requirements on Jan. 3 and, therefore, had had their “spending cap extended.”
However, in a joint statement with the RFEF, LaLiga added that players who have had their registrations cancelled cannot be re-registered with a club for a second time in the same season.
Barça appealed that decision to the CSD, arguing against the interpretation of the rule, and submitted a 52-page report to the court on Tuesday with their reasoning.
A final decision from the CSD could take as long as three months, although sources don’t expect it to take so long, but in the meantime the court has ruled both Olmo and Víctor can play for Barça — though it came too late for them to feature in Wednesday’s Spanish Supercopa semifinal. They will be available to play in Sunday’s final against Real Madrid or Mallorca.
The duo both joined Barça permanently last summer but were only registered temporarily via a rule which allows clubs to allocate up to 80% of the salary due to an injured player — in this case Andreas Christensen — on replacements.
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