Barça win appeal, Olmo, Víctor cleared to play

Spain's sports ministry (CSD) ruled Thursday that Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor can continue to play for Barcelona until the end of the season.

The CSD initially handed Olmo and Víctor temporary registrations in January while they assessed Barça's appeal against LaLiga and the Spanish Football Federation's (RFEF) decision to revoke the duo's registrations.

On Thursday, LaLiga issued a statement saying they would appeal the CSD decision.

LaLiga argue not only did Barça miss a Dec. 31 deadline to prove they were compliant with financial regulations, but that they have "never had" the capacity to register Olmo and Víctor within their league-imposed spending limit.

The CSD, however, says the players have a right to work and that a committee made up of representatives from LaLiga and the RFEF did not have the jurisdiction to make that decision and, therefore, it should be voided.

The ruling released by the CSD stresses that the decision has been reached, after listening to the arguments from all the parties involved, without taking into account LaLiga's financial regulations.

Olmo and Víctor have subsequently had their registrations officially prolonged until June 30.

The issue has been ongoing since the turn of the year when Barça missed a Dec. 31 deadline to prove they were compliant with LaLiga's financial regulations in order to register Olmo and Víctor for the second half of the campaign.

The players had received temporary registrations for the first half of the season via a league rule which allowed them to be registered in the place of a long-term injured player, in this case Andreas Christensen.

LaLiga confirmed on Jan. 3 that Barça's sale of VIP seats at Spotify Camp Nou, which is currently being redeveloped, for €100 million had brought the club back within the regulations. However, a joint LaLiga-RFEF commission said that the window to prolong Olmo and Víctor's registrations had passed.

Barça appealed that decision to the CSD, who agreed to reinstate the registrations while they analysed the case during a three month window, which was up this week.

Since then, LaLiga have questioned the €100m VIP seat deal, saying they will report the unnamed auditor Barça used to verify the sale.

The deal was not recorded in the accounts Barça submitted to LaLiga last week for the 2024-25 season, which were approved by a different auditor.

Olmo, who joined Barça from RB Leipzig last summer for around €60m, is sidelined with an adductor injury which is set to rule him out until the middle of April.

Since the CSD's January ruling, the Spain international has made 13 appearances in all competitions, including seven in LaLiga, scoring two goals and providing four assists.

Víctor, meanwhile, has featured just five times in the same period. All of the young forward's outings have come as a substitute.