If there was some doubt about the bad relationships between Barcelona and Athletic Club, the Basque side increased tensions on Thursday with a statement about the Catalan giants. La Liga, however, was limited in what they could tell athletically about Barcelona.
On Wednesday, Joan Laporta, president of Barcelona, stated that he was not happy with Athletic Club and commented on reports that Los Leones La Liga had met to discuss Barcelona's salary limit. This comes from the back of Barcelona who explains interest in Athletic's Nico Williams, and for a second summer in a row, publicly chased. Athletic checked Barcelona's ability to register Williams if they activated his release clause of € 58 million.
Laporta had noticed that athletics should “take care of his own interests” and deals with the Blaugrana. Athletic's statement was entitled: “Athletic Club takes care of its own interests.” During the statement, Athletic Club La Liga thanked for their transparency and confirmed that they had discussed Barcelona's ability to register players, whereby Deco's Statement of Intento with regard to Williams was mentioned as a justification for that. They confirmed that Barcelona was not in the so -called '1: 1 spending rule', so that would make it difficult for the Blaugrana to register it.
According to MD, however, La Liga was only able to explain the salary limits in a generic way. La Liga President Javier Tebas confirmed that Barcelona was not in their salary limit, he was limited in what he could share. It is worth remembering that La Liga removed a memorandum in April that publicly discussed Barcelona's financial and salary limit after the Blaugrana threatened legal steps. Although La Liga can force a salary limit, they are not allowed to provide information about other clubs.
Athletic Club is grateful for the clarity of an organization that defends the interests of all its clubs. Within the subject of Financial Fair Play we have discussed the ability of FC Barcelona to sign players
Athletic Club wants to thank Laliga for its collaboration and clarity during yesterday's meeting between the two organizations, in which Javier Tebas and Jon Uriarte, respective presidents of each entity were present.
The Madrid meeting was held in response to a request from Athletic Club with regard to compliance with the rules for financial fair play.
One of the issues discussed was FC Barcelona's ability to sign players. Athletic Club has a legitimate interest in access to relevant information about this, given that FC Barcelona's director football, Anderson Luis de Souza 'Deco', publicly acknowledged that they will try to sign a player of our first team. A player who is under contract with Athletic Club until 30 June 2027.
The search for clarification about these matters helps to ensure that the rules of the competition are followed correctly.
Anderson Luis de Souza's comments follow on the public statements of FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta, who admitted that his club 'works to comply with the 1: 1 rule' and that it therefore does not meet the requirements of that rule for players' registration.
We are grateful for the collaboration and clarity of Laliga in giving a response, but at the same time it is stated that Athletic Club will strongly defend its interests in accordance with the financial fair play instructions that have been approved by each of the professional clubs that compile Liga.