Barça is one step away from returning to the 1/1 rule, but not from registering Olmo and Pau Víctor

The FC Barcelona board met the deadlines promised to LaLiga to resolve the 'soap opera' regarding the sale of the VIP boxes at Spotify Camp Nou. On Monday, the club sent the documentation regarding the agreement with two investors, one from Qatar and another from Dubai, who will pay around 100 million euros for the operation of these seats at the stadium for the next 20 years. However, the guarantee corresponding to 28M€ of the 40% of the operation that Barça had to invoice immediately was missing, money that has finally been received this Friday into the club's coffers.

The information shared by 'RAC 1' details that the requirements from the league changed regarding this 'lever' for two key reasons. First, the unpaid debts resulting from the sale of Barça Vision, and secondly, the fact that these are two investors about whom little is known regarding their financial solvency. This forced the club to receive 40% of the operation immediately and not the 20% that LaLiga requires for the sale of any asset.

Since the negotiation was closed so close to the New Year holidays, the money took longer than expected to reach the club's coffers, but the documentation is complete and, with it, Barcelona will finally be able to achieve the financial balance that allows them to sign without restrictions under the 1/1 rule starting from this winter market. However, this does not translate into the immediate registration of Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor.

The reasons from LaLiga to halt the registrations of Olmo and Pau Víctor

Both players will continue to be without their license to compete in the second half of the 2024/25 season, as they were excluded from the Barça squad on January 1. According to article 140 of the General Regulations of the RFEF, no player can be registered twice with the same club in a season. Barça claims to have met the requirements to update the registrations of Olmo and Víctor before midnight on December 31, but the final decision remains in the hands of the league and the federation itself.

For Barça, there is the possibility to appeal article 130.2 of the aforementioned regulation, which states that "a player may be registered with only one team of a club, without the possibility of being deregistered and registered again by the same club during the same season", referring to exceptions related to cases of force majeure or regulatory provisions, two scenarios that relate to what happened this week.

The club can also exhaust other legal avenues to be able to re-register the midfielder and the forward, although two Catalan courts denied the precautionary measure to the club during the last week of 2024. Thus, Barcelona may enter an unexpected paradox starting this Friday. The club will be able to sign normally, but is not authorized to call up, loan, or transfer Dani and Pau.

As long as they do not receive a license, both players are ineligible to compete in any official club or national team competitions, unless they terminate their contracts with the blue and burgundy team. For now, the stance of the players and the Barça board is optimistic about the resolution of the case, although this mess may take several days or weeks to resolve.