Never before has a player refused: a case will be opened and further measures are not ruled out.
All-out war between Barcelona and Ter Stegen . The German goalkeeper has refused to sign the consent form to submit the report on his lumbar surgery to the LaLiga Medical Commission , as Mundo Deportivo reported , and the club will open disciplinary proceedings against him. Never before in history has a player refused to share his data. The club, which was surprised by Ter Stegen's decision despite the tensions with him in recent weeks, is confident he will reconsider. The club's legal department, however, is already studying the case to see if he maintains his position: Barça has not ruled out taking further disciplinary and legal measures.
Barcelona , who arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday after their tour of Asia , had, and still have , a meeting scheduled with Ter Stegen to discuss the medical report on his lumbar surgery, which he must send to LaLiga so the organization can determine how long he should be out. If it's four months or more, it's considered long-term, and his absence would allow other players, such as goalkeeper Joan García, to be registered. But the German goalkeeper, to Barça's surprise, refused to give his permission for his data to be sent to Madrid. He didn't wait to meet with the institution's doctors at the scheduled meeting to express his position.
Historical refusal
His approval to submit the documents is considered a bureaucratic step, and all the players consent to it, hence the club's surprise. In fact, it has never happened before: neither at Barça nor in the history of LaLiga. He himself has already given his approval in previous transactions. The Catalan club, bewildered, will immediately open disciplinary proceedings against him. His position caused great displeasure at the club, which views his conduct as an act of bad faith.
He offered the data
Despite this situation and the huge surprise, Barcelona remains calm and trusts that Ter Stegen will eventually reconsider and sign the report once he understands the consequences of his refusal. It seriously harms the club, his teammates, and him. Furthermore, Barça believes there will be legal grounds to ultimately issue the document anyway, without his consent, among other reasons because the former Borussia Mönchengladbach player was the first to speak out about his illness and the length of his absence. The club's legal services are currently investigating this unusual case.
The reasons for the crisis
The player and the club have been at odds since the signing of goalkeeper Joan García, which led the club to put the German on the market. This situation worsened with Ter Stegen 's decision to announce, individually and not jointly with Barça , his decision to undergo surgery and even announced that his absence would only be for three months, short-term. Relations seemed to reach their peak with the club's response: to strip him of the captain's armband. The club was clear that his absence would be longer and that his message was only intended to hurt registrations, hence why they didn't see him as a leader in the dressing room. But they were confident the war wouldn't escalate and hoped to smooth things over at the meeting scheduled for today, where the international was to give his approval for the report. To the surprise of the Barça leadership, who learned of his refusal to sign the contract during his flight back to Barcelona after the Asian tour , the conflict is not over, and now the goalkeeper refuses to provide details of his operation to the club so that it can send a report to LaLiga.
The club, however, hopes to meet with Ter Stegen in the coming hours and persuade him to reconsider. If he doesn't, further legal and disciplinary action will be taken.