Was Gavi eligible to play for Barcelona in their LaLiga win at Elche?

Gavi’s contractual ‘situation’ continues to give us plenty to talk about. First of all, it was Barcelona’s inability to register their star midfielder as a first-team player with LaLiga, which has now snowballed into Saturday’s opponents Elche claiming that he may have been ineligible to play in the league leaders’ 4-0 win at Estadio Martínez Valero as a result.

Barcelona well over salary limit set by LaLiga

The whole saga started in the month of January, when Barça attempted to move Gavi over to a new ‘first-team’ contract and register him as such with LaLiga, who wouldn’t permit them to do so. The reason? The club’s first-team wage bill already far exceeded the limit set by the league.

Hours after the close of the winter transfer window, in which all ‘new’ players could be registered, the club’s lawyers requested that a precautionary measure be issued by the courts, which was granted, much to the displeasure of LaLiga, who appealed against it. During that period, Gavi was officially recognised as a first-team player, but the measure was lifted by the Commercial Court a few weeks ago, with a definitive ruling still to be made once the case has been studied from all angles.

LaLiga quash Elche’s Gavi complaints

The changing of the midfielder’s status from B-team player to first-team player and back again appears to have raised eyebrows in Elche. “Can a player continue playing if their first-team registration has been withdrawn?” is the question they have been asking as they contemplated lodging an official complaint to LaLiga . The answer, however, appears to be “yes”, which has even been confirmed by LaLiga themselves: “As far as both we and the RFEF (the Spanish Soccer Federation) is concerned, everything is in order. Gavi’s current registration is the same as the one he had before the precautionary measure was issued.”

In August, LaLiga approved a form of visa which allowed the teenager to play for the Barcelona first team this season even though he was officially registered with their B team. Now that his first-team status has been rescinded, that ‘visa’ comes back into play. Some peace of mind for Barça, who won’t be punished for fielding an illegible player. Given the extent of their off-field issues, the last thing they need is the spilling onto the field too.