Barcelona have escaped punishment for fielding an ineligible player in their Copa del Rey match against Levante, the Spanish FA have confirmed.
The Blaugrana named a young rotated team in the first leg of the last-16 tie against Levante, which included centre-back Chumi – who, according to reports, was not eligible to play due to a suspension.
Why did Barcelona escape punishment from the Spanish FA? Five key things to know…
- Barcelona feared expulsion from the Copa del Rey after fielding the ineligible Chumi in their last-16 first leg against Levante.
- Levante’s president Quico Catalan had confirmed the club would be reporting Barcelona to the Spanish FA as a result.
- Real Madrid suffered the same consequences in the 2015/16 season after playing the suspended Denis Cheryshev against Cadiz.
- But because Levante missed the 48-hour period for reporting the incident, the Spanish FA have confirmed Barcelona will receive no punishment.
- Barcelona will now face Sevilla in the quarter finals.
Chumi had been suspended by the Spanish FA for accumulating five yellow cards while playing for Barcelona B, with the fifth coming just before the first leg against Levante.
Despite this, Barcelona named Chumi in their starting XI for his third game of the season, all of which have come in the Copa del Rey.
With some drawing comparison to Real Madrid’s expulsion in 2015/16 for fielding an ineligible Denis Cheryshev, fears had grown that Barcelona would meet the same fate this year.
However, the Spanish FA have confirmed Barcelona will face no punishment as Levante missed the 48-hour reporting period following the first leg.
“The sole judge of Competition, Carmen Perez, considers in accordance with the regulations in effect in the RFEF that the complaint presented by Levante UD at 9:33 am on this Friday has been received outside the established deadline,” they said in a statement released on Friday, as reported by Goal.
“Once the complaint and the corresponding allegations have been studied, the single judge of Competition has decided to maintain the result of the tie and keep FC Barcelona in the draw for the quarter-finals of this afternoon for the reasons previously stated.”
Barcelona won the second leg 3-0 at the Nou Camp, with a much stronger XI, to take the tie 4-2 on aggregate and advance into the quarter-finals.
The Blaugrana were subsequently drawn to face Sevilla in a repeat of last season’s final, which Barcelona won 5-0.
Levante president makes complaint to Spanish FA
The Spanish FA’s decision comes despite Levante president Quico Catalan confirming the club would be still be complaining after missing the reporting period.
“If Barça were in the same situation as Levante then they would do the same and we would have to understand that,” Catalan said prior to the second leg, as reported by Football Espana.
“I know it was not ideal to have not noticed this before but we are in time to denounce this, the subject is important enough and it is up to us to exhaust all possibilities.
“The norm when you study and analyse this is clear.”
The post Barcelona cleared by Spanish FA following fears of Copa del Rey expulsion appeared first on Squawka News.
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