Unauthorized Catalan Activities Unveiled
FC Barcelona Faces Challenges in Registering Players for the 2025/26 Season
FC Barcelona is encountering difficulties in registering its players for the upcoming 2025/26 Spanish league season. The club's inability to register several key players, including Marcus Rashford, Wojciech Szczesny, and Joan García, is due to delays in finalizing an audit of the club’s finances, a necessary step for La Liga to confirm Barcelona's compliance with its strict financial regulations.
The audit, conducted by Crowe Spain, is essential for La Liga to verify Barcelona's adherence to the 1:1 spending rule, which limits club spending on wages and transfers to its revenue. The delay in the audit has resulted in an administrative hold-up on registering new signings and players returning from loans or injury.
Barcelona's financial woes stem from historically spending more than its revenue on transfers and wages, leading to La Liga imposing tight financial controls. The club needs approval of a €100 million investment related to improvements at the Estadi Johan Cruyff to help meet La Liga’s financial fair play rules.
Key players such as Rashford (on loan from Manchester United), goalkeeper Joan García (signed from Espanyol), and Wojciech Szczesny (contract extension pending registration) remain ineligible to play until the audit is complete and La Liga gives the green light. Barcelona has faced similar registration constraints for five consecutive years, reflecting ongoing financial difficulties and regulatory scrutiny.
In addition to the financial issues, the renovation of the Camp Nou stadium is also affecting player registration. The stadium's maximum capacity is gradually increasing as work progresses, first to 45,000, then to 60,000, but it is still under renovation, and this has contributed to the registration delays.
Ter Stegen, the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper before suffering a knee injury last year, has a new injury to his back and will be placed on the long-term injury list. This injury is expected to free up 80% of Ter Stegen's salary under the wage cap, which may help Barcelona register Garcia.
FC Barcelona is expected to play at home against Valencia on September 14, with a maximum capacity of 27,000 spectators. The opening of all 105,000 seats at the Camp Nou is not expected until 2026.
References: [1] [Source 1] [2] [Source 2] [3] [Source 3] [4] [Source 4] [5] [Source 5]
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