Football's governing body says CSD's verdict in Barcelona's favour breaches economic control framework, Fair Play and equality between clubs
Barcelona. Photo – Getty Images
La Liga has, as planned, appealed the decision of the Spanish Supreme Sports Council (CSD) to maintain the licences of Barcelona players Dani Olmo and Pau Victor until the end of the season.
The Spanish football governing body is demanding an urgent judicial review that “guarantees the competitive balance and financial sustainability of professional competition by taking the requested precautionary measures.” The league believes that the CSD's decision “seriously violates the regulatory framework in terms of economic control and the issuance of sports licences, undermines the general interests of the competitions and threatens their integrity, violating the principle of equality between clubs.”
Recall that last week, Barcelona, thanks to the CSD's decision, won a dispute with La Liga, which had previously not recognized Barcelona's financial operation to sell the VIP boxes of the Camp Nou stadium to Arab investors, which allowed the club to register the aforementioned players, and deducted 100 million euros from the club's salary cap.
The CSD ruled that the agreement adopted by the RFEF-La Liga Coordination Agreement Monitoring Committee “has no legal force, since this body does not have the power to refuse to issue a preliminary visa and licence to the federation.”
Prior to this, on April 2, La Liga reported that the Catalan club's previous auditor, who began working with them on December 31, 2024, provided information that the corresponding financial transaction for the sale of VIP boxes at the Camp Nou stadium was correctly recorded in the financial statements as club income. Following this, La Liga increased the club's wage cap on January 3, 2025.
The League's decision to deduct €100 million from Barcelona's salary cap could return the club to a situation of economic imbalance and make it more difficult for it to sign new players or extend contracts with existing players.
La Liga has also lodged a formal complaint with the International Accounting and Auditing Institute (ICAC) against the auditor Barcelona hired on December 31 last year, who included the transaction 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's players for the second part of the season, the CSD subsequently sided with the club. That decision, however, was temporary – the League and the Federation were given up to three months to familiarize the Council with their arguments before making a final verdict. La Liga then, in January, came forward with the intention of filing an appeal.
Barcelona leads the Primera, with a four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid. Hans-Dieter Flick's team also continues to fight in the Champions League, where they will meet Borussia D in the quarter-finals. The first match will take place on Wednesday, April 9, in the capital of Catalonia, with the start at 22:00 Kyiv time.