Spain’s National Sports Council has ruled that Dani Olmo and Pau Victor will be able to play for Barcelona for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign in a huge boost for the Catalan giants.
In a complicated situation, La Liga revoked the registrations that they had initially granted Barcelona to register Olmo and Victor last summer, claiming that Hansi Flick‘s side had not complied with the league’s financial rules.
Spain’s National Sports Council allowed Barcelona to reinstate the pair in January, but earlier this week, La Liga said that the Catalan team did not have the financial capacity to register Olmo or Victor.
At the start of January, Barcelona announced a deal to sell VIP boxes at the club’s Camp Nou stadium in order to raise £83m, but La Liga have insisted that the deal was not recorded in the accounts submitted to the league last week.
“No amount from the [VIP box deal] is ultimately recorded in the profit and loss accounts, contrary to what had been certified by the club and the auditor at the time of said transaction,” said La Liga in a statement.
“Barcelona did not have on December 31, 2024, or on January 3, 2025, nor has it had since that date, nor does it currently have, [the financial fair play capacity] for the registration of the players Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.”
Barcelona handed Olmo, Victor boost
In response, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said: “Three months ago I said that Olmo and Pau Victor’s registrations had been carried out correctly, following each and every one of the requirements demanded by the RFEF [Spanish Football Federation] and La Liga, and this is still the case.”
Spain’s National Sports Council have now announced that Olmo and Victor can play for Barcelona for the rest of this season.
“The Supreme Council for Sports (CSD) decided on Thursday to accept the appeal submitted by players Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, along with FC Barcelona, on January 7, thereby overturning the agreement reached by the Coordination Agreement Monitoring Committee between the Spanish Football Federation and La Liga,” read a statement.
However, La Liga have since announced that they will appeal the decision to the Administrative Court.
Olmo is currently on the sidelines through injury
Olmo is currently unavailable for selection, with the Spain international picking up an adductor injury during Barcelona’s La Liga clash with Osasuna last week.
However, the 26-year-old is not expected to spend too long on the sidelines, and he has been an important player for the Catalan giants this season, scoring eight goals and registering five assists in 28 appearances in all competitions.
Victor, meanwhile, has featured on 22 occasions for Barcelona this term, scoring twice and providing one assist in the process.
The 23-year-old has taken to the field 16 times in Spain’s top flight during the 2024-25 campaign, although he has only played seven minutes of league football since the end of January, with a number of players ahead of him in the pecking order.
Barcelona will continue their La Liga campaign with a clash against Real Betis on Saturday before hosting Borussia Dortmund for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final next week.
