Barcelona will be able to feature Dani Olmo and Pau Victor temporarily in the second half of the 2024-25 La Liga season.
The Spanish government has suspended the agreement made on January 4 between the RFEF (Spanish FA) and La Liga, which had cancelled the two players’ sporting licences after Barcelona missed the December 31 deadline to extend them.
Barcelona’s attempts to re-register the pair were rejected by both the RFEF and La Liga, prompting the club to submit a 52-page appeal alongside more than 60 supporting documents to the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), the highest sports council within the Spanish government.
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The CSD’s decision acknowledges that Barcelona have grounds to challenge the ruling made by La Liga and the RFEF, with the suspension being enforced as the club faced the risk of losing two important assets before a final ruling could be made.
Until that decision is reached, and it remains unclear how long that might take, Olmo and Victor will be available for Barcelona. This means they can participate in La Liga and the early rounds of the Champions League knockout stages.
Neither player has been included in Hansi Flick’s squad for Wednesday’s Supercopa de España semi-final against Athletic Club, although both are in Saudi Arabia and could be available should Barcelona reach Sunday’s final, where they will face either Real Madrid or Mallorca.
Explaining their decision, the CSD referred to Article 27 of Spain’s Law on Sport, which states that professional athletes have the right “to a sporting career in accordance with their potential.”
The CSD felt that not lifting the de-registrations would “cause serious economic and sporting damage to the club and, above all, to the players,” while also arguing that the de-registrations could “harm the interests” of the Spanish national team and La Liga.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s match against Athletic, Barcelona’s sporting director, Deco, said: “I am happy for the players. We have gone through very difficult days, and the players want to play. But we are so happy with the outcome and that the CSD has proved we were right, which is the important thing.”
