Dani Olmo registration controversy explained: Who is the player and why is Barcelona unable to register him?

Dani Olmo registration controversy explained: Who is the player and why is Barcelona unable to register him?

Barcelona’s financial woes are in the spotlight once again as the Catalan club struggles to register Spaniards Dani Olmo and Pau Victor as new players for the remainder of the La Liga 2024-25 season.

Sportstar takes a look at what has transpired in the ongoing case with Barcelona running against time to make sure the players continue to don the iconic blue and garnet threads.

Olmo joined the Catalans ahead of the 2024-25 season for a sum in the ballpark of 60 million euros from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig.

On the other hand, Victor was signed by Barcelona from its reserve team on a permanent basis.

Soon after the Spanish duo arrived in Catalan, both players had to wait for their debut. It was so because Barcelona failed to adhere to La Liga’s rules on the salary cap, which stopped them from registering new players.

However, there was one rule which gave the side temporary relief. According to the Spanish top-flight’s regulations, if a player is out injured for at least four months then the club can use 80 per cent of their salary to register a new player.

At that time, there were a few players who were sidelined for months, including Ronald Araujo (who sustained a hamstring injury during Copa America and underwent surgery) and Andreas Christensen. The salaries of these players were freed up and it was in place of Christensen that Olmo was registered for the first half of the season.

Other avenues through which Olmo’s registration could have been made easier were Ilkay Gundogan’s return to Manchester City and loaning Clement Lenglet to Atletico Madrid. This certainly would have made Barcelona’s wage bill lighter.

While Olmo has had 11 appearances and scored five goals in the league this season, Victor has racked up 13 appearances, scoring twice and giving one assist.

The temporary licences were valid till December 31, 2024. As of January 4, Barcelona has failed to register Olmo and Victor as its players.

The club did appeal to provisionally register him but it was rejected by a court, a decision which was welcomed by La Liga. “LaLiga has today learned of the ruling… rejecting the request for the provisional registration of Dani Olmo until June 30, 2025, on the grounds that none of the necessary conditions for the adoption of an interim measure have been met,” the league said in a statement on December 27.

“The ruling also stresses that: ‘The purpose of allowing additional spending is so that a long-term injury does not weaken the team’s competitiveness, not to use a long-term injury to allow the registration of players whose salaries exceed the limit, which is what FC Barcelona is attempting’,” the league added.

A day before the deadline (December 31), another appeal from the club was rejected. Shortly after this, Barcelona requested the Spanish FA for new players’ licences. The league too put out a statement. “La Liga informs that, as of today, December 31, FC Barcelona has not presented an alternative that, in compliance with La Liga’s economic control regulations, would allow it to register any player starting next January 2.”

A look at the league’s website reveals that the player profiles of Dani Olmo and Pau Victor have been removed.

Given the cloud of uncertainty floating over his head, Olmo is eligible to seek moves to other clubs. According to The Athletic, the Euro 2024 winner could go for a loan spell in January if things don’t look better at Barcelona.

On Saturday, the Spanish Football Federation put out a statement saying that the requirements regarding La Liga’s economic control were met by the club on January 3, 2025, which essentially allows the club to sign new players in the January transfer window and register them.

“Once the relevant documentation was completed by the club, the LaLiga Budget Validation Body has decided to extend the FC Barcelona Sports Squad Cost Limit from the aforementioned date,” the statement said.

However, the statement added that the Monitoring Committee agreed not to grant Olmo and Victor a definitive license.

“The Monitoring Committee agrees not to grant the prior visa or the definitive license requested by FC Barcelona for the players Mr. Daniel Olmo Carvajal and Mr. Pau Víctor Delgado in accordance with the literal interpretation of articles 130.2 and 141.5 of the General Regulations of the RFEF that prevent a player whose license is cancelled from, during the course of the same season, obtaining a license in the same club team to which he was already linked,” the federation said.