Barcelona president Joan Laporta has defended his management of the club's finances and insisted they followed LaLiga's rules to ensure they could register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor. (More Football News)
Barca have been beset by financial issues in recent years, with LaLiga's strict salary cap rules limiting the Blaugrana to a €426million annualღ spend on wages for 2024-25, compared to the €755m limit afforded to rivals Real Madrid.
Having failed to bring their finances under control by December 31, B🌜arca were blocked by LaLiga and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) from registering Olm🐬o and Victor.
Both players had been granted temporary registrations after arriving in pre-season but were left facinဣg the prospect of having to miss tౠhe remainder of 2024-25.
After two courtsౠ rejected Barcelona's requests to register the pair, the club turned to the Spanish Government, which intervened as the National Sports Council (CSD) reversed the decision and allowed them to be provisionally registered.
Laporta said on꧂ Tuesday he had closed a deal to sell Camp Nou's VIP boxes to Middle Eastern investors, also agreeing a new seven-year kit deal with Nike to balance their finan🌌ces and meet LaLiga's rules.
"We submitted the documentation on December 27. We sent it within the deadline, but between ൩December 27 and 31, LaLiga asked us to complete the documentation," he said.
"We 𒁃t💖hought we had the break-even on December 31 and LaLiga asked us for additional requirements that were not included.
"There was no improvisation whatsoever. We established a very detailed strategic plan from the outset and it has been evaluated a🐲s the weeks have gone by.
"The deal has been completed thanks to the work and talent of all the exe♉cutives. They are doing🌱 an extraordinary job.
"The ꧃contract with Nike triples wha𝄹t we were charging and would have been done regardless of the FFP requirements.";
Laporta refused to provide details of the VIP seat con🌳tract, citing confidentiality clauses.
LaLiga said last week it disagreed with the CSD's decision and will appeal the ruling. Several💦 clubs have also criticised the government intervention, saying it set a dangerous precedent.
