Barcelona thought the drama surrounding their registrations was over on Monday when new signing Roony Bardghji was given a Barça Atlètic status to split time between the youth team and the senior squad, but La Liga has put a temporary end to their joy.
Javier Gómez, La Liga’s Corporate General Manager, clarified on Monday that the league has not yet approved Bardghji’s registration and that Barça must still prove they have enough salary cap space in the first team to register Roony’s contract, and they cannot use his Barça Atlètic registration as a “loophole” to bypass Financial Fair Play rules.
“If he were registered with Barça Atlètic, as long as he’s under the required age, he can play. He can apply for a visa and he can play for the first team. If they haven’t applied for a visa, which they haven’t, he wouldn’t be able to.
“If a kid is in a club’s youth system, or in the reserve team, and the club wants him to play for the first team, they have to apply for a visa, and we’ll stamp it. To stamp it, there’s a memo from 2022 that says ‘I’m going to authorize it, but this can’t be a loophole to bypass fair play.’ So, how much does this kid earn? Does he earn what the reserve team members earn? Yes, no problem. Is he paid closer to what you get in the first team? Yes, to give you the visa, [but] I’ll count it in the first team.”
Gómez was then asked if Barça can register Roony after the end of the transfer window, and the executive said the operation can be done at any point outside the window as long as Barça create the necessary FFP margin.
“If you want us to give him the visa, you have to give him fair play for the first team. But you can do it later.”
Source: Mundo Deportivo
So the drama continues, and Barça now have two weeks to create the necessary FFP margin to register Roony as a first team player.