La Liga chief gives verdict on Real Madrid role in Dani Olmo's Barcelona registration

La Liga's outspoken president Javier Tebas offered a cryptic response to rumours claiming that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez appealed on the behalf of Barcelona to ensure that Dani Olmo was allowed to be registered.

Olmo was at the epicentre of a long-running saga regarding his contractual status at the turn of the year. Barcelona's dire financial situation coupled with La Liga's strict economic regulations ensured that the summer recruit could only be granted a temporary registration at the start of the season.

La Liga deemed that Barcelona didn't find the necessary funds to extend Olmo's existing registration before the end of 2024. Once the midfielder's short-term playing agreement expired on 31 December, he was banned from all competitive Barcelona matches as La Liga rules stipulate that one player cannot be handed two different registrations for the same club in the same season.

Barcelona vehemently appealed against Olmo's exile, taking the case all the way to the the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), the sporting arm of the Spanish government. After a week of uncertainty, Olmo and his teammate Pau Victor (who was in the same situation) were granted temporary registrations until a final ruling in April.

Last week, Catalunya Radio sensationally claimed that Madrid president Perez called his counterpart at the CSD, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Uribes, to "unblock" the process preventing Olmo's registration.

Further reports from El Confidencial claim that Perez bragged to Olmo about his involvement in the deal after the Supercopa de Espana final. The Spaniard had been made available for selection again and came on for the final 30 minutes of a 5-2 Barcelona victory over Real Madrid.

La Liga's president offered a rather cryptic view on the topic on his own X account this week: "No portaCOZ is going to deny the report that FP [Perez] intervened with the CSD to have FCB's appeal upheld. And be careful, because he himself commented on the matter during the Super Cup final, according to the news. If this were true, we would be dealing with a very serious matter."

A 'portaCOZ' is a pointed combination of the Spanish words for spokesperson (portavoz) and horse kick (coz) which Tebas uses to describe journalists who act as favourable Real Madrid mouthpieces.

Tebas is currently engaged in a spiky war of words with Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti regarding the short turnaround between the club's Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid and last weekend's victory over Villarreal.

The La Liga chief doubled down on his dismissal of Ancelotti's complaints in the same social media post referring to Olmo's registration. "Since European competitions began on Thursdays, more than 14 years ago, clubs from all over Europe, including Spanish ones, have been playing on Sundays without 72 hours having passed," Tebas wrote, followed by two shushing emojis.

READ THE LATEST NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS AND MATCH REACTION