Barca’s Olmo and Victor free to play after Sports Council extends registration

MADRID: Dani Olmo and Pau Victor will be allowed to play for Barcelona after Spain’s National Sports Council (CSD) on Wednesday allowed the LaLiga club to provisionally register the duo, four days after Spanish football authorities rejected their requests.

Barcelona signed the two players in the close season but due to the club being unable to meet LaLiga’s wage cap, they were allowed to be registered for the first half of the season only.

On Saturday, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) and LaLiga rejected a request to register them both for the second half of the season.

The CSD said its decision was “provisional until the final resolution of the appeal lodged by the club.”

Two courts had also previously rejected Barcelona’s requests but the CSD upheld the club’s appeal, stating that professional athletes “have the right to a sporting career in accordance with their potential with guarantees and certainty.”

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“The CSD considers that the non-adoption of this precautionary measure would cause serious economic and sporting damage to the club and, above all, to the players,” the CSD added.

“This could also harm the interests of the Spanish national team, as well as the rest of the national competitions, including LaLiga.”

However, the verdict came after Hansi Flick announced the squad for Barcelona’s Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, with neither Olmo nor Victor named among the starters or substitutes.

LaLiga said it disagreed with the CSD’s decision in a statement, adding that it was considering appealing.

“The content of the resolution will be studied carefully in order to present the appropriate appeals, without prejudice to expressing its absolute disagreement with it,” it said.

Olmo, who was signed from RB Leipzig on a six-year deal in August for around 55 million euros ($56.70 million), and Victor were only registered for the first half of the season and their four-month allowance expired on Dec. 31.

The club had 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 wages to register the player who was joint top scorer at Euro 2024.