The club, led by Joan Laporta, will file an urgent appeal to be able to count on the two players for the Spanish Super Cup, which is scheduled to take place on January 8 in Jeddah against Athletic Club Bilbao.
In response to the refusal of La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation to re-register Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, Barça acted quickly. The Catalan club is completely “dissatisfied” with this decision and plans to “file the appropriate appeal” with the CSD (Higher Sports Council). In this appeal, the entity chaired by Laporta will request an urgent precautionary measure to include both players in the Spanish Super Cup match.
However, the first working day for this process to begin will be Tuesday January 7, complicating things for Hansi Flick, who has already been unable to take either player to Barbastro for the start of the Copa del Rey . Therefore, it remains uncertain whether the coach will have the players at his disposal for next week’s matches.
Read more:
LaLiga removes Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor from Barcelona squad
Just before the team boarded the bus to travel to the Aragonese city, Laporta visited the training facilities at Sant Joan Despí.
A meeting with Flick and the two players
There, he met with the German coach to inform him of the latest developments in this matter—at that time, the joint refusal of La Liga and the Federation was not yet known—and then had a meeting private with Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor to “reassure them” despite the increasingly complex legal situation.
This marks the president’s second visit to the locker room in just 24 hours. In the premiere, he spoke with Flick, who by surprise became the club’s spokesperson, as no board member, including Laporta, had broached the subject in public.
This happened Friday morning before Flick’s press conference. Then, on Saturday morning, just before heading to Barbastro, the president returned to deliver a message of calm to an increasingly anxious locker room.
Thus, Laporta had to cancel all the pre-existing protocols in Barbastro, because the priority was to inform Flick and try to reassure both players. Furthermore, Barça will refrain from making any further comments on this registration issue until the CSD resolution is known.
