Atlético de Madrid is one of the first teams raising the voice against the precautionary measure that FC Barcelona has received from the High Council of Sports (CSD, an organising depending on the Spanish government) that contradicts the Liga and Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) rulings and allows two players, Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, to play despite the club not abiding to Liga's financial rules.
The debate has been going on for weeks and the controversy is huge, because now many clubs believe that FC Barcelona has been given a favourable treatment and, in the words of the statement by Atlético de Madrid, "puts the current system in jeopardy, questioning the rules of the game".
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The club, directed by Enrique Cerezo, echoes LaLiga's president tweet published the day before, by applauding the Spanish League's economic control, a set of rules that has turned "football into a solvent sector, a process admired internationally", balancing the competition and saving several historic clubs from bankruptcy in the process.
The statement explains that the club, in order to comply with LaLiga rules, has made an "enormous effort" increasing the capital, allowing them to compete at a very high level. But "this government intervention creates a very dangerous precedent, as it opens the door to breaking the rules and making the serious mistakes of the past. Without clear and equal rules for all, fair competition is not possible".
Las Palmas complains about the "arbitrariness" of the process
Atleti is not the only club to have spoken out, but few others have. Athletic Club Bilbao president complained in a press conference before the Supercup game against Barcelona, reminding that "rules are the same for everyone".
Las Palmas, a team in the Canary Island, is even harsher in their statement, saying that they are surprised and are "in absolute disagreement" and that the process has "a feeling arbitrariness incompatible with the principles of transparency and fairness".
"It is especially striking that this resolution has been adopted with unusual speed, without giving rise to the hearing or participation of LaLiga and the RFEF, key actors in the management of Spanish football", and ask for the the effects of these measures be carefully reviewed and restore integrity the competition.
It will be interesting to see if these are isolated cases, or the rest of Spanish football clubs join them in the protests. Many fans are surprised by the "complicit silence" of Real Madrid, which can be attributed that Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez needs the support of Barcelona president Joan Laporta in his "Super League" project.