Barcelona‘s recent La Liga opponents Osasuna are apparently investigating whether the Catalan giants fielded an ineligible player in Thursday’s top-flight contest.
Hansi Flick‘s side strolled to a 3-0 victory in the midweek La Liga battle, which was controversially rearranged for March 27 after the tragic death of Barca’s team doctor just before when the fixture was originally due to be played.
Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo put La Blaugrana two goals to the good in the first half, before Robert Lewandowski netted his 23rd strike of the La Liga season to seal a comfortable victory.
The result leaves Barcelona three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table on the same number of matches, although Flick’s men could supposedly now be at the centre of an unforeseen investigation.
According to Spanish outlet El Partidazo – via COPE – Osasuna are considering whether to challenge the result due to the inclusion of defender Inigo Martinez, who may have been ineligible to play under FIFA rules.
Barca’s Martinez may have been ineligible for Osasuna match
The former Athletic Bilbao defender started alongside Eric Garcia in the heart of defence on Thursday, despite pulling out of Spain’s UEFA Nations League quarter-final matches against the Netherlands due to injury.
Isaac Fouto of El Partidazo reports that Article 5 of FIFA regulations states that if a player withdraws from their national team due to injury, they must not play for their club team until five days after their nation’s most recent match.
As Spain played the second leg of their Nations League quarter-final with the Netherlands on Sunday, only four days passed between that game and Martinez appearing in Thursday’s victory over Osasuna, thus potentially making him ineligible.
However, there is an exception where Martinez could have been eligible if Spain gave him the green light to face Osasuna four days later, as Fouto explained: “This is the question that Osasuna is studying: if the Federation has released Inigo Martínez because there is a medical report, there is an official statement from the Federation saying that Inigo Martínez is out due to injury and that his place is being taken by Huijsen.
“That is official and that communication exists. And what Osasuna is studying is whether with that he is already released by the Federation. And just one thing, there is also a public statement from Luis de la Fuente saying in the press room that there was a medical report and that therefore there was no issue with Inigo Martínez.”
How might the Martinez situation play out?
If Barcelona are found to have broken the rules regarding Martinez’s selection against Osasuna, the La Liga leaders could see the result of Thursday’s game overturned and have their points docked in the process.
La Blaugrana are said to be confident that they will avoid any penalty, having believed that Spain gave them their express permission to field Martinez just four days after their second leg with the Netherlands.
While Real Madrid will no doubt be watching on with fingers crossed, the 15-time European winners are also at the centre of their own investigation which could leave them without Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior for their Champions League quarter-final showdowns with Arsenal.
Following Martinez’s withdrawal from the Spain squad, La Roja defeated the Netherlands on penalties after an engrossing 5-5 aggregate draw, and they will face France in June’s semi-final for the right to meet Germany or Portugal in the final.
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