Barcelona President Joan Laporta was as ebullient as ever in his evaluation of La Liga’s decision to reduce their salary limit, and the Blaugrana victory in the courtroom regarding the Dani Olmo registration case, claiming that they ‘always have to fight against everyone and everything.’ The crux of the news this week hinged on the refusal of auditors Crowe to include the €100m sale of the 475 VIP seats lease for 30 years.
That decision meant that Barcelona had to submit their latest accounts to La Liga without the money from said deal, and La Liga emitting a statement noting that the Blaugrana salary limit had been reduced. Crowe decided that they could not include the sale in their audit, as currently it is not a product that exists. It takes Barcelona out of their salary limit again, and places significant spending restrictions on them in the transfer market.
Renovation work is ongoing on Camp Nou, and while it had been predicted that they would be back there this season, their return has been pushed back to next season. However MD say that Barcelona intend to be back within their salary limit and with the €100m VIP seats lease included by May.
Ferran Torres is expected to start tomorrow. @Luis_F_Rojo, @crisnamo
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) April 4, 2025
Their plan is for constructor Limak to finish work on the VIP seats in May, and emit a certificate assuring that the VIP seats order has been delivered, which Barcelona could in turn present to Crowe. That would allow Crowe to include the sale again in their audit, and return Barcelona to their salary limit.
Certainly it seems to be a way around the matter, however it is not clear whether Crowe will accept the certificate as proof of the existence of a product delivered. The VIP seats would not be operational as an asset until August this year, by which point the fiscal year for Barcelona would have ended, and the income would be counted in the 2025-26 season rather than this one.
