Just in: Gavi’s registration as a first-team Barcelona player has been overturned

Despite not meeting the economic requirements, Barcelona had filed a court case in late January in order to register Gavi as part of the first team. The court ruling came in their favour and La Liga was forced to register the player, who was handed the iconic number six jersey.

Gavi had signed a contract extension with Barcelona back in September 2022. However, the club’s economic shortcomings meant that they were not in a position to officiate the contract. This resulted in Gavi playing with the number 30 shirt throughout the course of the campaign.

But while Barcelona were able to register the player in late January, La Liga threatened to appeal against the registration, citing a violation of the Financial Fair Play regulations.

It appears the Spanish footballing authority has now been successful, as the Mercantile Court of Barcelona has now lifted the precautionary measures that had allowed the club to register Gavi, reports Sergio Fernandez.

Instead of going into the minute details, the court has raised a very simple formality behind the reason for the ruling. It is that Barcelona had filed the case a day later.

In usual cases, such claims have a grace period of one day, in case they are submitted late. However, Barcelona filed the claims a day after the grace period, giving the court enough ground to annul the registration of Gavi.

This means once the judicial decision is confirmed, Gavi will go back to being a part of the reserve squad and not the senior squad. He will be able to continue playing for Barcelona’s first team, as the youngster has a reserve team contract and a La Liga Visa. The player, though, will have to relinquish his number six kit and go back to number 30 once again.

Barcelona can appeal against the decision, but it is unlikely that it will be overturned anytime soon. In fact, the club could be in deep trouble as they now have to justify and audit Gavi’s salary not for the ongoing year, but also for the next two years, in line with a new law that was introduced in November 2022.