FC Barcelona was authorized this Wednesday, by decision of the Spanish Higher Sports Council, to replay its playmaker Dani Olmo and the young Pau Victor, whose licenses had been canceled by La Liga for lack of sufficient financial guarantees.
Excellent news for FC Barcelona. After losing two legal appeals aimed at obtaining new licenses for Dani Olmo and Pau Victor last week, the Catalan club was finally authorized, this Wednesday, to have its two players play again, thanks to a decision of the Superior Sports Council Spanish.
This provisional measure “suspends the cancellation of the sports licenses of the aforementioned players” and also maintains their validity until the outcome of the dispute, writes the body dependent on the Ministry of Education and Sports in a press release. The two players, who are part of the Barcelona group to play the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, are not on the match sheet for the semi-final against Athletic Bilbao (8 p.m.) but could return to the field on Sunday in case of qualification for the final.
Riddled with debt, and with a payroll still too high for its current means, FC Barcelona took advantage of the injury of its defender Andreas Christensen at the end of August to temporarily register Dani Olmo, recruited for nearly 60 million euros after having shone at Euro-2024 won with Spain, as well as the young Pau Victor. Their licenses expiring on January 1, and without sufficient financial guarantees, La Liga removed the two Spaniards from the list of players registered in the Catalan professional group.
-Sufficient financial guarantees
After losing two legal challenges aimed at obtaining new licenses for Dani Olmo and Pau Victor last week, Barça therefore tried to find funds and sold the operation of VIP seats at the Camp Nou, still under construction, for a amount estimated at 100 million euros over 20 years, to Qatari and Emirati companies. The club, however, did not respect the deadline set by La Liga, which claims to have only received the documents on January 3.
The body then confirmed that FC Barcelona had provided, thanks to this new inflow of money, enough guarantees to respect financial fair play and be able to operate normally, but that the licenses of Olmo and Victor had indeed expired, the current regulation preventing players from “obtaining a license at the same club to which they were already linked” during a season.
According to Spanish media, FC Barcelona believe that this rule is outdated and that they should be allowed to register the duo since they now have the necessary funds and the transfer window is open. The two players will therefore be able to play again in the Blaugrana jersey, while the Spanish football authorities change their regulations in the face of this unprecedented case.
