Barcelona, ​​Olmo is available again: what happens now?

You know the old and somewhat cloying adage that preaches the separation of sport and politics? Well, in Spanish football it happened yesterday, Wednesday 8 January, and the consequences of this are still to be seen. At risk is the entire system of financial control imposed on clubs with effort, rigor and meticulousness by La Liga in recent years.

the remuneration

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Only politics could save Barcelona in the Dani Olmo case, and so it was. The government, at the hands of the Consejo superior de Deportes, the operational arm of the Ministry of Sports, overturned a match that Barça lost 4-0 where instead of goals there were nos received in series from two Barcelona judges, from La Liga and by the RFEF, the football federation. Yesterday, the incredible ‘remuntada’. With a u, huh? Because this is how the word is written in Catalan, and the detail is fundamental: Pedro Sanchez’s government is sensitive to what is happening in the always agitated region of Barcelona, ​​and has decided to save the ‘Més que un club’ from a global fool and above all from a possible economic collapse.

CAUTIONARY

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Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, removed from the list of Blaugrana players from La Liga last January 1st, have been automatically re-registered while waiting for Liga and RFEF to assert the reasons for their no to the CSD. It was possible because Barça asked for the ‘cautelarísima’ and not the ‘cautelar’, and not by chance: the former does not provide for cross-examination and allows the Council to make a decision (appealable, but with longer timescales) but unambiguous.

the teams

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While awaiting the final verdict, Dani and Pau return to the field, and controversy rages around their names. “There are rules and they must be the same for everyone” said ‘Cholo’ Simeone last Friday. Atletico returned to the transfer market this summer after years of being very lean due to the constraints of financial fair play and spent strengthening themselves with minor players. And what about Betis, Barça’s next opponent in La Liga, who had to sell their best man, Nabil Fekir, to make ends meet? Last night in Jeddah the president of Athletic Bilbao did not bite his tongue and on TV he defined the CSD verdict as “Fallucinatory” and “Monstrous”, inviting Liga and RFEF to defend their decisions. The La Liga statement speaks of an “absolute discrepancy” and the federation itself showed great surprise. “We are called to make huge sacrifices – said Uriarte – and then we have to deal with situations like this”.

the players

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He’s not wrong: Athletic is a model club with its accounts in order and a virtuous economy, and yesterday it lost against a Barcelona club shaken by debt and strengthened in the recent past by players purchased because the wage bill was regulated with alleged payments never arrived. “We are surprised – Athletic striker Iñaki Williams said yesterday – it seems that the rules are not the same for everyone. I believe that the image of Spanish football can emerge from this somewhat tarnished story. It is a decision that creates a lot of division, because many things are not understood. There are rules that must be respected, if this doesn’t happen there must be some type of penalty.”

the amnesty

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This is why Liga and Rfef said no for Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, the limit was full, the coffers were full only of words but empty of money. But the government lent a hand to what the writer Vazquez Montalban defined as ‘The disarmed army of Catalonia’: “This government decision, contrary to the rules and contrary to the Federation and Liga criteria, is a sign of favor towards a club and distorts the competition. I highly doubt that this amnesty would have been granted to a smaller club,” tweeted Borja Semper, spokesperson for the Partido Popular, the Socialist government’s opposition party.

silence

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La Liga president Javier Tebas expressed his ultra-critical opinion on ‘goal of dismantling the system of things that work in La Liga and which are supported by the clubs. The president of the CSD seems to listen to only one voice, which does not represent Spanish football. And this same voice, curiously, maintains a complicit silence in this case. Where is Real Madrid TV now?”. The question is legitimate, because theoretically Casa Blanca is the first to be damaged by the CSD verdict given that if today Madrid were to beat Mallorca in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday they would have to face Barça with Dani Olmo. But if the other clubs protest, from Madrid, always ready to attack the Liga and the Federation for different issues, this time they say nothing. Curious, and thinking about the Clásico pro Super League alliance doesn’t seem far-fetched. The match continues, and the entire financial system of La Liga is at stake. Endangered by a political decision.