FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - LaLiga - Real Sociedad v FC Barcelona - Reale Arena, San Sebastian, Spain - November 10, 2024 FC Barcelona's Dani Olmo reacts after missing a chance to score REUTERS/Vincent West/File Photo
(Reuters) - LaLiga welcomed a court's decision on Friday to reject Barcelona's appeal for the precautionary registration of Dani Olmo for the rest of the season, which means the Spain international may not play for the club from Jan. 1.
Barcelona had signed Olmo in August for around 55 million euros ($57.39 million) but due to the club being unable to meet LaLiga's wage cap, the attacking midfielder was registered for the first half of the season only.
The club had managed to register Olmo after long-term injuries kept first team players out of the squad for months, which allowed Barca to allocate a portion of their wages to register the 26-year-old.
But the four-month allowance for Olmo is set to expire at the end of the month and the Commercial Court number 10 of Barcelona rejected the club's request to provisionally register him.
"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," it said.
"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'."
Olmo, who led Spain to European Championship glory earlier this year, has been an integral part of Barcelona's team this season. Barca are third in LaLiga, three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid.
LaLiga added that the decision to not register Olmo was initially taken by its Budget Validation Body.
It was then confirmed three times by its Financial Fair Play Committee, its Social Appeals Committee and by the UEFA Second Instance Licensing Committee of the Spanish Football Federation.
Spanish media reported Barca have filed an appeal to the magistrate court which will be heard on Monday, a day before the deadline. Reuters has contacted the club for comment.
($1 = 0.9584 euros)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
