Barcelona lose another appeal to register Dani Olmo
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Barcelona player Dani Olmo participating in an open-door training session of the team in Barcelona on Dec 29.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MADRID – Barcelona have lost another appeal for the precautionary registration of Dani Olmo for the rest of the season on Dec 30, one day before the deadline.
Barcelona signed Olmo in August for around €55 million (S$77.9 million), but with the club unable to meet La Liga’s wage cap, the attacking midfielder was registered for only the first half of the season.
The four-month allowance for the Spanish international expired on Dec 31.
The club managed to register Olmo after long-term injuries kept first-team players out of the squad for months, allowing Barca to allocate a portion of their wages to register the 26-year-old, along with forward Pau Victor.
On Dec 27, the Commercial Court No. 10 of Barcelona rejected the club’s request to provisionally register Olmo, and the Court of First Instance No. 47 of Barcelona agreed with that ruling on Dec 30.
According to La Liga, the court rejected the precautionary registration of Olmo, since none of the necessary prerequisites for the adoption of the precautionary measure was met.
La Liga also defended the competence of its delegate commission to approve its budgeting rules, and that this has never been questioned by any club, including Barcelona.
The initial decision to not register Olmo was taken by La Liga’s budget validation body.
That decision was then confirmed in three separate appeals by its financial fair play committee, its social appeals committee and by the Uefa second instance licensing committee of the Spanish Football Federation.
Barcelona then decided on the judicial route, which meant a race against time for an alternative plan.
Spanish media reports say that the club were planning to use the sale of VIP boxes at the Camp Nou, which could bring in over €100 million. But this would need the approval of La Liga. Reuters has contacted the club for comment.
Barcelona are third in the La Liga standings, three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, and their next game is a Copa del Rey round-of-32 tie away to fourth-tier Barbastro on Jan 4.
Meanwhile, retiring Spanish footballer Jesus Navas tearfully bid farewell to his playing career on Dec 30 with songs, chants and other tributes at a ceremony at Sevilla’s packed Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium.
The 39-year-old winger – Sevilla and the Spanish national team’s most-decorated player – will officially retire when his contract expires on Dec 31 due to a painful and chronic hip injury which has plagued him in recent seasons.
“I live to give joy to my Sevilla and the Spanish fans, and if it hadn’t been for my hip I would have continued, that’s for sure. That’s why it was very difficult for me to say that this is the end of the season,” Navas told the crowd of around 45,000 fans who packed the stadium for the tribute, pausing at times to fight back tears.
Navas, who emerged from Sevilla’s youth system, made 705 appearances for the club over 18 seasons, as well as a four-year spell at Manchester City – playing 183 games – between 2013 and 2017.
He was given a framed jersey with his name and the No. 705 after being joined by his wife, two sons and parents on the stage as the crowd applauded and chanted his name.
Navas’ 15 trophies include a record four with Spain – the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012 and 2024, and the 2023 Nations League – and eight with Sevilla. REUTERS, AFP
