If there was any doubt about the poor relations between Barcelona and Athletic Club, the Basque side heightened tensions on Thursday with a statement regarding the Catalan giants. However La Liga were limited in what they could tell Athletic regarding Barcelona.
On Wednesday, Barcelona President Joan Laporta had declared that he was not happy with Athletic Club, commenting on reports that Los Leones had met with La Liga to discuss Barcelona’s salary limit situation. This comes off the back of Barcelona declaring an interest in Athletic’s Nico Williams, and for a second summer in a row, publicly pursuing him. Athletic were checking Barcelona’s ability to register Williams if they activated his €58m release clause.
Barcelona are ignoring Athletic Club’s furious public attack, and stick to their plan to trigger Nico Williams’ release clause at the beginning of July. However, they don’t understand why a club that have triggered almost 30 release clauses (some of them in a poor manner) are now… pic.twitter.com/LLl8lMOZyM
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 27, 2025
Athletic Club looks after its own interests
Laporta had noted that Athletic should ‘look after its own interests’ and concern themselves with the Blaugrana. Athletic’s statement was titled: ‘Athletic Club looks after its own interests’. During the statement, Athletic Club thanked La Liga for their transparency, and confirmed that they had discussed Barcelona’s ability to register players, citing Deco’s declaration of intentions regarding Williams as justification for doing so. They confirmed that Barcelona were not in the so-called ‘1:1 spending rule’, and thus that would make it difficult for the Blaugrana to register him.
La Liga limited in what information they could divulge
According to MD though, La Liga were only able to give explanations regarding the salary limits in generic fashion. La Liga President Javier Tebas confirmed that Barcelona were not in their salary limit, he was restricted in what he could share. It is worth remembering that La Liga deleted a memorandum in April which publicly discussed Barcelona’s financial and salary limit after the Blaugrana threatened legal action. While La Liga can enforce a salary limit, they are not permitted to provide information on other clubs.
Athletic’s statement in full
Athletic Club is grateful for the clarity provided by an organisation that defends the interests of all its clubs. Within the topic of financial fair play, we discussed, among other issues, FC Barcelona’s ability to sign players
Athletic Club would like to thank LaLiga for its co-operation and clarity during yesterday’s meeting between the two organisations, in which Javier Tebas and Jon Uriarte, respective presidents of each entity, were present.
The meeting in Madrid was held in response to a request made by Athletic Club concerning compliance with financial fair play rules.
Among the issues discussed was FC Barcelona’s ability to sign players. Athletic Club has a legitimate interest in accessing relevant information about this given that FC Barcelona’s director of football, Anderson Luis de Souza ‘Deco’, publicly acknowledged that they will try to sign a player from our first team. A player who is under contract at Athletic Club until 30 June 2027.
Seeking clarification about these matters helps to ensure that the rules of the competition are followed properly.
Anderson Luis de Souza’s comments follow public statements made by FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who admitted that his club ‘”is working to comply with the 1:1 rule” and that, as a result, it does not currently meet the requirements of that rule for player registration.
We are grateful for LaLiga’s co-operation and clarity in providing a considered response, but at the same time insist that Athletic Club will vigourously defend its interests in accordance with the financial fair play regulations approved by every single one of the professional clubs that make up LaLiga.
