Soccer Football - Champions League - FC Barcelona v Brest - Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain - November 26, 2024 FC Barcelona's Dani Olmo celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
(Reuters) -Barcelona's Dani Olmo and Pau Victor will be unable to play for the LaLiga side in the second half of the season, Spanish football authorities said on Saturday, rejecting the club's latest attempt to extend their registration.
Midfielder Olmo, 26, who helped Spain to European Championship glory last year, has been an integral part of Barcelona's team this season, while forward Victor, 23, has been largely restricted to substitute appearances.
Barca are third in LaLiga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
They had signed Olmo from RB Leipzig on a six-year deal in August for around 55 million euros ($56.7 million) and Victor in July, but only registered them for the first half of the season due to LaLiga wage cap considerations.
The Spanish football federation (RFEF) and LaLiga said in a joint statement they had rejected a request to register them both for the second half, saying a cancelled licence could not be revived for a player by the same club in the same season.
"The Monitoring Committee agrees not to grant the prior approval or the definitive licence requested by FC Barcelona for the players Daniel Olmo Carvajal and Pau Victor Delgado," the RFEF said.
Two courts had previously rejected the club's requests.
LEGAL RULINGS WELCOMED
LaLiga had previously welcomed the legal rulings, saying additional spending is allowed so long-term injuries do not weaken a team but the rule should not be exploited to allow the registration of players whose salaries exceed the limit.
The club had managed to register Olmo after long-term injuries kept first team players out of the squad for months, allowing Barca to allocate a portion of wages to register the man who was joint top scorer at the Euros.
Spanish media said Barcelona plan to file a complaint to the Spanish government via the Administrative Sports Court (CSD) in a last-ditch attempt to allow the pair to play.
There was no immediate comment from Barcelona.
On Friday, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he was not happy about the situation but remained optimistic that the club would find a solution.
Both Olmo and Victor were not named in the squad for Barca's Copa del Rey match against fourth-tier side Barbastro later on Saturday.
Both players' profiles have also been removed from the LaLiga website and replaced with the message: "We do not have any data on this player."
Reports said Olmo has a clause in his contract where he could leave as a free agent as he cannot even be loaned out to another club without being registered.
This is not the first time Barca have failed to register a crucial player, with the Catalan side famously letting Lionel Messi leave in 2021 even though the Argentine forward wanted to extend his stay at the club where he started his career.
At the time, president Joan Laporta said Messi's high wages coupled with strict LaLiga financial rules could have jeopardised Barcelona's future.
($1 = 0.9701 euros)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
