A date is announced to determine the fate of FC Barcelona in the case of exclusion from the Champions League.
This is the bomb that has worried Catalonia in recent days. Barça would be facing a serious threat of exclusion from the Champions League from the 2024/2025 season according to information from German media, Welt. Sources within UEFA and the Spanish club indicate that violations of financial regulations are at the origin of this possible sanction.
If FC Barcelona declared yesterday that they knew nothing about this situation, Marca affirms that the Catalan club will soon be aware of its fate. The resolution of this matter and the investigation being carried out by UEFA will take place in February for the Spanish sports daily. In the meantime, the Blaugrana will continue to work to prepare for the double confrontation against Naples in the round of 16 of the Champions League which will also take place in February.
Barça has to fear
In recent days, we only talk about the Super League project in the world of football. This famous project which must compete with the Champions League and above all bring in much more money for the participating clubs. At the origin of this idea, we mainly found the two giants of Spain: Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Florentino Pérez had, at the time, increased his declarations, explaining that it was urgent to have new inflows of money so as not to see several major clubs go bankrupt. And if his club seems to be in rather good financial shape, this is not the case for rival FC Barcelona.
The Blaugrana club, as we have known for several years, has major economic difficulties and often finds it difficult to be active on the transfer market. Since the arrival of Joan Laporta, Barça has used different levers to get by by partially selling assets in order to obtain income. For example, Barça had sold its television and licensing rights for the next few years. How to improve finances? Partially, because FC Barcelona is still in tough times and can now fear the worst. Because on the side of the well-informed newspaper Welt Am Sonntag, there is a serious risk of exclusion from the next Champions League for the Blaugranas.
According to the German media, the reason for this possible sanction is linked to a violation of UEFA financial regulations. Barça has absolutely not offset its expenses with similar cash inflows over the last three years. However, the Catalan club announced a net profit of 304 million euros during its balance sheet in September. But the UEFA regulations are different and require clubs to enter in their balance sheet only sales linked to footballing activity. However, Barça, in its balance sheet, had taken into account the sale of future TV and marketing rights as well as the profits reaped by its other sports sections (basketball, handball, etc.). And this does not pass with UEFA.
Welt Am Sonntag specifies that internally, UEFA is talking about a possible exclusion “for two to three years” by explaining that “the greater the loss, the greater the penalty”. This summer, the European football body had already sanctioned Barça with a fine of 500,000 euros because “the club had incorrectly declared profits from the sale of intangible assets which did not constitute relevant income.” And the German media also explains that within Barça itself, sources confirm this risk of exclusion from the C1. Without the Champions League over the next few years, FC Barcelona would be in even more trouble economically. We therefore understand better why the club insists on its Super League project.
