Barcelona could lose the Champions League for up to three years

Barcelona is still recovering from the financial problems left behind by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu. The Catalan club had to sell its TV rights for several years in advance, yet it is once again in trouble. It is at risk of being expelled from the Champions League.

Surely we all have vivid memories of transfers such as Franck Kessié, Erik García, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang or the guest appearance of youngster Adama Traore. All players came out to meet Barcelona’s financial problem and played at the club for minimum wage. For example, Dani Alves, who returned to Barcelona at the time, was even supposed to play for 155,000 euros a year, which is the minimum wage possible in LaLiga.

Barcelona transfers in the summer of 2022

Barcelona was in a great financial crisis and, due to the fair-play rules set by the LaLiga management, could hardly register new players. The change came after the Catalan club sold 15% to 25% of its television rights for the next 25 years. The club generated profits and was able to bring in new players.

Barcelona bought Raphinha from Leeds for 58 million euros, Jules Kounde for 50 million euros from Sevilla. Another player who cost a lot of money was Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich. He cost Barcelona 45 million euros.

” Barcelona is the only club that has no money but is interested in perhaps every player. It’s quite strange”.

Anyway, the transfers have borne fruit. Although Barcelona failed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages for the second year in a row, losing to Bayern and Inter in the group stage, they won the Spanish LaLiga ahead of Real Madrid. In the Europa League, it was no great success either, with Xavi’s team being knocked out by Manchester United in the first round of the spring.

Barcelona in trouble

It would seem that financial problems are a thing of the past. This summer, moreover, Barcelona has been selling more than buying. The departures of Ousmane Dembélé or Antoine Griezmann saved money, especially in wages. In any case, the Spanish daily Marca has an interesting piece of information.

Barcelona may be banned from the Champions League for 2 or 3 years. The Catalan big club is alleged to have had a mess in its accounting and, above all, to have misreported profits from the sale of intangible assets. Indeed, Barcelona did report a profit of $334 million, but the key to financial fair-play is revenue from football activities only.

According to multiple sources, Barcelona’s accounting should have been an outright disaster. Already in the summer, Barcelona was fined €0.5 million for violating financial fair-play. The amount of the penalty should be guided by the motto “the greater the loss, the greater the penalty”. The penalty would be even worse because this year Barcelona finally went through the regular group after two years.

Source: MARCA, LaLiga