Barcelona request to register Olmo is denied again by Spanish league

MADRID — Barcelona's request to register Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor for the rest of the season was denied again by the Spanish league and federation on Saturday.

The players were registered only through the end of 2024 and Barcelona failed to meet the league’s financial fair-play rules by the end-of-year deadline.

The league and the federation said in a joint statement that even though Barcelona eventually was able to meet the salary-cap rules, the players can't be registered again after already having been dropped because of the missed deadline.

Coach Hansi Flick said before the 4-0 win over fourth-division club Barbastro in the Copa del Rey that he spoke with Olmo and the player reiterated his desire to keep playing for Barcelona.

“Dani wants to play for Barça,” Flick said. “We need him, and also Pau Víctor, they are very good players, we need both of them. We need to wait. This is the only thing we can do right now.”

Barcelona was expected to resort to the courts again, though its previous attempts were all rejected.

Barcelona argued that the deadline for registering new players should be at the end of January, when the transfer windows closes, and not the end of December as the league requires.

Barcelona was able to finally increase its salary cap after reportedly receiving a payment on Friday of 100 million euros ($103 million) for VIP seats at the renovated Camp Nou stadium.

Each La Liga club has a salary cap that is calculated based on factors including revenues, costs and debts. It is proportional to roughly 70% of a club’s revenues.

Barcelona has endured difficulties registering players recently because of its financial struggles. It has resorted to financial levers in recent years, including the sale of future television rights. The club’s financial struggles led to the departure of Lionel Messi in 2021.