Spanish Football: LALIGA Financial Fair Play Regulations and Barcelona FC Case
By Virginia Cirera, Lawyer, Statim Legal SLP, Barcelona, Spain
Background
Fair play rules are the cornerstone of sports competitions. They are a set of values that imposes ethical behaviour to ensure fair competition, the opposite of which is abusive and cheating behaviour.
In the early 2000s, elite football showed signs of excess, including overspending on signings and transfers, heavily indebted clubs, and oligarchs taking control of historic teams. In this context, UEFA understood that the fair play rules that applied on the pitch should also govern club finances of the pitch, precisely to prevent abuse and guarantee fair competition.
Thus, in 2009, UEFA approved its Financial Fair Play Regulations, which were well received by the European Parliament and accepted by all UEFA member federations. They were also adopted in Spain, but, in 2022, the Spanish league, LALIGA, approved its own version of the Financial Fair Play Regulations, inspired by those of UEFA, but added additional requirements.
Financial Fair Play Regulations
The goal of these Regulations is to ensure that clubs spend according to their income, with the aim of reaching a balance between income and expenditure sustainable over time.
The UEFA and LALIGA Regulations apply to their members and to football club that wants to participate in their competitions. Compliance with these rules is controlled by the respective regulatory bodies; LALIGA conducts detailed reviews of the annual accounts and budgets of all clubs each season. Failure to comply with these Regulations can result in sanctions, such as exclusion or disqualification from a competition in progress, economic fines or restrictions on the registration of players, precisely to limit the benefits of non-compliance. The LALIGA rules apply to both first and second division clubs in Spanish football.
Squad cost limit
The squad cost limit, also known as the salary cap or 1:1 rule, is the financial rule that generates the most attention in the sports media. According to the 1:1 rule, a club is permitted to spend on salaries an amount equal to the revenue it generates. In simple terms, a club under the 1:1 rule, can spend one euro for every euro it earns.
Each club proposes its salary cap to LALIGA, in compliance with the Budget Preparation Regulation and it is up to the LALIGA validation body to approve the proposed limit or, where appropriate, to revise it to the amount that guarantees the financial stability of the club.
This squad cost limit is publicly available on the LALIGA website. For the 2024/2025 season, for instance, the Barcelona FC limit is set at €426.4 million; Real Madrid FC at €754.8 million; and Valencia FC at €74.6 million.
Other financial fair play rules
In addition to the squad cost limit, Financial Fair Play Regulations also regulate other important matters that provide the financial ethics that are required, such as ensuring that clubs have no outstanding debts with the tax authorities and no unpaid wages to players.
Barcelona FC exceeds the 1:1 rule with the signing of two players
On 2 April 2025, LALIGA issued an official statement revealing that Barcelona FC had breached the 1:1 rule with the signing of two players, Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, and that both players should, therefore, be unregistered for this season.
The reason for this breach is a change in the accounting criteria regarding the registration of €100 million in revenue from the sale of VIP boxes at Spotify Camp Nou. This income had been included in the financial statements submitted to LALIGA on 31 December 2024 and its classification as income is now being questioned, as the revenue will only be effective when the club has finished the works on its new stadium, which is still under construction.
The Higher Sports Council of the Spanish Government has accepted the appeal submitted by Barcelona FC and allowed both players to remain registered for the remainder of the season. LALIGA, however, expressed its disagreement with this decision and announced its intention to challenge it.
Although the financial fair play rules are generally welcomed by all football stakeholders, their implementation is not always without numerous controversies in Spain and elsewhere.
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