La Liga has stated that Barcelona is not complying with financial fair play regulations and has informed authorities about an auditor the club hired for four days, which was crucial for their ability to utilize Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in the latter part of the 2024-25 season. They indicated that the unnamed auditor was engaged by Barcelona on December 193 and provided a certification to the league, affirming that the €100 million sale of VIP seating to Middle Eastern investors was accurately reflected as income in the club’s profit and loss report for the 2024-25 season. This transaction was essential for Barcelona to meet financial regulations, albeit after a delay, and to receive permission from the Spanish government in January to field Olmo and Victor for a minimum of three months. Meanwhile, the government’s high sports council, the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), is evaluating La Liga and RFEF’s choice to cancel the registration of the two players, which was prompted by Barcelona’s tardy submission of financial documents concerning the VIP seating sale. The CSD is anticipated to announce its decision by Monday, April 7. La Liga has highlighted that Barcelona has reported three different auditors within a three-month period, with two of them failing to mention the sale of VIP seating in their submissions to the league. Grant Thornton represented Barcelona until December 31 and submitted an interim financial statement (IFS) that did not reference the VIP seating, while Crowe has taken over following an unnamed auditor and submitted a limited review report to La Liga. La Liga contends that, based on the IFS from Grant Thornton, “as of December 31, 2024, or January 3, 2025, Barcelona did not possess any positive balance or registration ability, commonly referred to as ‘Fair Play’, to register players Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor.” La Liga has notified Barcelona that their salary cap has been lowered by the proceeds from the VIP seating sale, as per the IFS submitted. Additionally, La Liga has communicated this to the CSD and plans to lodge a formal complaint against the unnamed auditor that Barcelona used from December 31 to January 3 with Spain’s Institute of Accounting and Auditing. In response to La Liga’s announcement, club president Joan Laporta stated: “It has been three months since I mentioned that the registrations of Olmo and Pau Victor were done correctly and we complied with all the requirements set by the federation and La Liga.” This remains true. Since the beginning of January, Olmo and Victor have been eligible to play, and Barcelona is currently enjoying a 19-match unbeaten streak while competing for three trophies. Hansi Flick’s squad leads La Liga, has reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and will face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday night. During that period, Olmo has participated in 12 matches across all competitions, whereas Victor has played three times.
