Barcelona were aware of potential regulation breach before playing Inigo Martinez against Osasuna | OneFootball

Rarely does a day pass without controversy in Spanish football, and on Friday Osasuna took the decision to contest the result of their 3-0 defeat to Barcelona. Los Rojillo have filed an official complaint to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), alleging that Inigo Martinez, who started and played the full match, was ineligible to play.

Their assertion hinges on a FIFA regulation that states that players who are injured and miss international games are not permitted to play for their club sides in the five days subsequent to the last game for their nation in that international window. Martinez was originally called up by Spain, but was then released after sustaining an injury during Barcelona’s win over Atletico Madrid. The Osasuna clash came just four days after Spain beat the Netherlands on penalties in the Nations League though.

According to Catalunya Radio, via Sport, Barcelona were aware of the potential breach of these regulations before the Osasuna game. They were alerted to the possibility, and thus contacted legal experts in the area, and after consultation, the conclusion was that Barcelona were good to line up with Martinez in their side.

Image via Marca / Francesc Adelantado

Barcelona’s ‘defence’ relies on a caveat in the article that explains if the Federation agrees with the club in question to release the player, then the regulation is no longer in play. Their are precedents where similar appeals have been rejected too.

That said, Osasuna have differentiated Martinez’s case from the treatment of Bryan Zaragoza, their player, and three under-21 players who released for Barcelona duty: Gerard Martin, Pablo Torre and Fermin Lopez. In the latter case, Spain announced their release, while manager Luis de la Fuente noted Martinez was not present due to injury, and Barcelona also released a medical report on Martinez’s injury, but he was not assessed by the Spanish medical team.