Barcelona president intends to continue to defend the club's interests
Joan Laporta, photo – Getty Images
Barcelona President Joan Laporta has commented on La Liga's decision to lower the salary cap for the Catalan club's players due to the absence of a deal on VIP boxes at Camp Nou in the club's reports.
“I have the feeling that this is not a coincidence: today we are playing in the semi-final [of the Spanish Cup] against Atlético, and it is not a coincidence that this kind of controversy is revived. This is another attempt to destabilise our team, and sometimes I have the feeling that if they cannot beat us on the pitch, then they want to beat us in the offices. As president of Barcelona, I will not allow this to happen and will continue to defend the interests of our club.”
“La Liga approved the signing of Pau Victor and Dani Olmo, but now they have changed their mind. Because? Did they do a bad job from the start when they approved the operation?”
The deal in question is an agreement with Arab investors that was concluded last December, which allowed Barcelona to earn an additional 100 million euros.
La Liga said in a statement today that the Catalan club's previous auditor, who began working with them on December 31, 2024, provided information that the related financial transaction for the sale of VIP boxes at the Camp Nou stadium was correctly recorded in the financial statements as club income. La Liga then increased the club's wage cap on January 3, 2025.
Barcelona's new auditor (the third in recent months) believes that this is not the club's real income. As a result, La Liga has informed the Catalan club that these €100 million are immediately deducted from their current salary cap, which puts them back into a situation of economic imbalance and makes it difficult for them to sign new players and extend contracts with current players.
La Liga will also lodge a formal complaint with the International Accounting and Auditing Institute (ICAC) against the auditor Barcelona began working with on December 31 last year, who included information about the deal in the club's profit and loss statement.
Let us recall that in January the situation with the registration of Olmo and Victor for the second part of the season was resolved positively for Blaugrana. Although La Liga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) refused to register Barcelona players for the second part of the season, the Supreme Sports Council subsequently sided with the club. That decision, however, was temporary – the League and the Federation were given up to three months to familiarize the CSD with their arguments before making a final verdict. La Liga then, in January, came forward with the intention of filing an appeal.
Barcelona lead La Liga, three points clear of second-placed Real Madrid. Hans-Dieter Flick's side are also in the Champions League, where they will face Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals.
Today, April 2, Barcelona will play the return semi-final match in Madrid against Atletico in the Spanish Cup. Let us recall that the first game between the teams ended in a productive draw with a score of 4:4.