Barcelona’s rivals Osasuna have issued a statement explaining their position after accusing the Catalan club of breaking FIFA rules with their team selection in Thursday’s meeting
Osasuna have officially launched an appeal against Barcelona after the Spanish league leaders fielded Inigo Martinez in their win against the Pamplona side. Centre-back Martinez had pulled out of the Spain squad through injury, but played the full 90 in Barca’s 3-0 victory.
Under FIFA rules, a player is not allowed to turn out for their club side within five minutes of their national side’s last fixture. Spain beat the Netherlands on penalties in their UEFA Nations League clash on Sunday night, with Barca facing Osasuna on Thursday – four days on.
In a statement, Osasuna have argued they did not consider Martinez nor Barca colleague Marc Casado to be eligible for the game. They applied the same logic to their own player, Bryan Zaragoza, who – like Martinez and Casado – withdrew from Spain duty through injury.
“Since a medical leave is the justification for the withdrawal, as communicated by the RFEF [Spanish FA] itself, Club Atlético Osasuna believes that this case cannot be considered an exceptional situation that would render FIFA regulations inapplicable,” Osasuna said in their statement. “The Navarrese club does consider the release of players Gerard Martín, Pablo Torre, and Fermín López from their second match with the Spanish Under-21 national team as a separate matter, as their withdrawal was not justified by a medical reason.
“However, Club Atlético Osasuna believes that Iñigo Martínez, whose absence from the Spanish national team was due to a medical leave, was not eligible to play in yesterday’s match in accordance with FIFA regulations. In light of this, the Navarrese club has decided to file an appeal for improper fielding in defense of his rights, the fairness of the competition, and the equality of all participants.”
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It has been suggested that the late rearrangement of Barcelona vs Osasuna might yet be a mitigating factor. The original fixture had been due to take place on March 8, but was postponed after the death of Barcelona doctor Carles Minarro Garcia.
The new fixture date was only set six days before the match, on March 21. This was several days after Martinez withdrew from Spain duty, having picked up a knock in Barcelona’s win against Atletico Madrid.
On the pitch, Barca got most of their work done in the first half. Goals from Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo left them 2-0 up inside 25 minutes, and Robert Lewandowski added a late third to send them three points clear at the top.
It wasn’t all good news, though. Olmo went down injured not long after scoring his team’s second from the penalty spot, and was forced off with less than half an hour on the clock with an adductor injury which is expected to keep him sidelined for three weeks.
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