The keys to the case that will settle Barcelona’s registration of Olmo & Victor

Concern is growing in Barcelona that they could lose one of their key players for the rest of the seaon. The registration case ruling on whether Dani Olmo or Pau Victor can continue playing for the rest of the season is due by next Monday, and La Liga have moved to encourage the High Court for Sport (CSD) to rule against Barcelona with fresh information.

According to MD, the ruling could come down as soon as Thursday morning, with Barcelona alleging that they delivered all of the documents for the €100m sale of the lease for 475 VIP seats at the renovated Camp Nou on time to register Olmo and Victor before the deadline set by La Liga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). Both players were unregistered, but Barcelona secured an injunction to allow both players to remain registered while their case with the CSD was heard.

In addition, there are key avenues of argument that will influence their decision. Barcelona hope that the decision to unregister them will not be permitted as it would infringe upon the right to work for Olmo and Victor, as they would be unable to find a new team during the rest of the season, unless they broke their contracts with Barcelona due to just cause. On the basis that Olmo and Victor’s career could be unduly harmed, the injunction was granted. It could also damage the Spanish national team in their Nations League campaign in June, as Olmo would be ruled out from international duty too.

The fresh information, as facilitated by a La Liga statement, is that Barcelona did not have the space in their salary limit to register Olmo and Victor anyway, in their view. They note that the €100m VIP seats deal that was registered in December is not part of their updated accounts in March, and as their auditors have not seen fit to include it, that would leave the salary limit impact of the deal impact void, and in turn, their bid to register Olmo and Victor the same. Marca say that Barcelona will not respond to La Liga’s statement and will instead await the ruling from the CSD.

Previous reports have stated that Barcelona already have an appeal and an application for an injunction prepared to go if the CSD rule against them. This was before the issue with their new auditors Crowe however, one that has also halted their planning for next season. Once again President Joan Laporta’s management of club finances is under close scrutiny.