Barcelona’s appeal for the precautionary registration of Dani Olmo for the rest of the season has been rejected, meaning the Spain international may not be able to play for the club from 1 January.
Olmo, 26, was signed from German side RB Leipzig for a reported 60m euros (£51m) in August.
However, the attacking midfielder was registered only for the first half of the season as Barcelona could not meet La Liga’s wage cap restrictions.
La Liga welcomed a court’s decision on Friday to reject the club’s appeal.
“La Liga 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,” said the Spanish league.
“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’.
“Barcelona registered Olmo after their squad was hit by long-term injuries, allowing the club to allocate a portion of their wages to register the player.
His four-month allowance will expire at the end of December and the Commercial Court number 10 of Barcelona rejected the club’s request to provisionally register him.
Spanish media reported Barcelona have filed an appeal to the magistrate court which will be heard on Monday, a day before the deadline.
La Liga said the decision not to register Olmo, who was a youth player at Barcelona but left for Dinamo Zagreb aged 16, 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.
Olmo, who helped Spain win the European Championship in the summer, has scored six goals in 15 appearances for Barcelona this season.
Barcelona are third in La Liga, three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid. (BBC Sports)
