Barcelona have lost a second appeal for the precautionary registration of Dani Olmo for the rest of the season, meaning he remains unable to play for the club from January 1 onwards.
The Athletic reported earlier in December that Barcelona’s court appeal for a precautionary registration measure for Olmo and his team-mate Pau Victor had been rejected.
Barcelona filed a new appeal to the Juzgado de Primera Instancia (the magistrate court), which was heard and rejected on Monday.
La Liga approved the registration of Olmo and Victor for the first half of the season only, giving Barca a temporary permit to use the players while they kept looking for fresh revenue streams before January. Their four-month allowances will expire on December 31.
In response to the decision on Monday from the magistrate court, La Liga welcomed the outcome, noting “none of the conditions necessary for the adoption of the precautionary measure” had been met by Barcelona.
As previously reported by The Athletic, the club are exploring using money from the sale of VIP boxes at the newly refurbished Camp Nou, which would allow them to meet financial fair play rules and extend Olmo’s registration before the end-of-year-deadline.
The sale of the boxes is awaiting approval from La Liga, who are expected to communicate their decision on Tuesday.
Failing that, the only other option available would be to secure a personal bank guarantee from board members, which the club used to register Ronald Araujo, Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto, Inaki Pena and Gavi in 2023.
Barca announced a new sponsorship deal with Nike but this was not enough to register the two players.
Olmo joined Barcelona from RB Leipzig in the summer for a fee in the region of €60million (£50m; $63m).
Barcelona’s struggles to meet La Liga’s salary limit had made it difficult for them to register new players in the summer but a resolution was found due to long-term injuries at the club.
If a club lose a player to injury for at least four months, La Liga rules allow them to allocate 80 per cent of that player’s salary in the club’s allowance to register another player.
Barca counted Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as long-term absentees.
Olmo, 26, has made 15 appearances in all competitions this season, providing five goals and an assist.
Victor, 23, has scored twice in 17 outings this term and has largely been used as a substitute.
GO DEEPER
Dani Olmo’s Barcelona registration dilemma and why he could leave for free in January
(Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
