LaLiga president Javier Tebas has said the league is still fighting to have Barcelona forward Dani Olmo unregistered for the second half of the season.
Olmo was unregistered by LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Jan. 1 after Barça failed to prove their were compliant with the league’s financial fair play rules (FFP) in time for a Dec. 31 deadline.
However, Spain’s sports ministry (CSD) reinstated Olmo’s registration — as well as forward Pau VÃctor’s — a week later as they agreed to analyse an appeal from Barça.
“We are against the registration and are taking the necessary action with the relevant bodies, requesting that he is unregistered,” Tebas said on Tuesday.
The CSD ruling sparked outrage among other LaLiga clubs, with Atlético Madrid, Espanyol and Valencia among several teams to release statements criticising the decision.
“They are right,” Tebas added of the reaction from other clubs. “If we, as LaLiga, are taking the action we are taking, it’s because we feel that the decision that has been made is not in accordance with the regulations.”
Olmo has featured three times for Barça since the CSD’s ruling, in the Supercopa win over Real Madrid, the Copa del Rey victory against Real Betis and LaLiga draw with Getafe.
However, he has missed the last two games injured, while Pau VÃctor has played just 39 minutes of football in total since the decision, coming off the bench against Betis and again in Sunday’s 7-1 win over Valencia.
It had been suggested that teams could report Barça for fielding an ineligible lineup in games in which Olmo and/or VÃctor have featured, but Tebas says that is not possible.
“Per the regulations, when a player is registered and has a licence, as Dani Olmo does at the moment, for example, there is no room to challenge the result of a match he’s involved in,” he clarified.
“Even if we are later proven to be right, that’s the case.”
Olmo joined Barça from RB Leipzig for €60 million ($62.4m) last summer, while VÃctor signed on a permanent deal from Girona after impressing with Barça’s reserve team last season.
The duo were initially registered temporarily until Dec. 31 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.
Olmo and VÃctor were then unregistered by LaLiga on Jan. 1 after Barça missed the deadline to prove they were compliant with the league’s 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 with their reasoning.
The CSD agreed Barça may have a case, resulting in the temporary re-registration of Olmo and VÃctor, but a final ruling from the CSD could take as long as three months.
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