Osasuna have filed an appeal to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) alleging Inigo Martinez was ineligible to play in their 3-0 defeat against Barcelona on Thursday.
Martinez withdrew from the Spain squad for March’s international break which Osasuna argue made him ineligible to play against them in Thursday’s La Liga fixture, as per FIFA regulations.
RFEF regulations state in the instance of a club fielding a player who does “not meet the requirements to participate” the club shall forfeit the match and the opposition will be declared the winner.
In a statement released on Friday, Osasuna cited Article 5 of Annex I of FIFA Regulations, which states a player is, “unless otherwise agreed by the relevant association, not entitled to play for the club with which he is registered during the period for which he has been released or should have been released… plus an additional period of five days.”
Martinez, a key player in Barcelona’s La Liga title challenge this season, withdrew from Spain’s squad on March 17 due to a knee injury. FIFA’s official match calendar notes the recent international window, the period in which players must be made available for their national teams, was March 17 to March 25. Barcelona’s match against Osasuna took place two days later on March 27.
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Osasuna forward Bryan Zaragoza and Barca midfielder Marc Casado also dropped out of the Spain squad through injury. Osasuna added: “In compliance with the aforementioned FIFA Regulations, none of these players were eligible to participate in the match that took place yesterday.“
The statement continued: “Given medical leave was the justification for the dropping (of Martinez), as was communicated by the RFEF itself, Club Atletico Osasuna understands that this case cannot be covered by any exceptional situation that makes the FIFA Regulations not applicable.“
Gerard Martin, Pablo Torre, and Fermin Lopez also withdrew from the Spain Under-21 squad and played on Thursday, but as this was not on medical grounds Osasuna described this as “a separate matter”.
Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski all scored as Barca secured a 3-0 win over Osasuna on Thursday.
A successful appeal from Osasuna would have significant implications on the La Liga title race, with Barca three points clear of Real Madrid with eight games remaining.
The RFEF rulebook states: “a club that improperly fields a player who does not meet the requirements to participate in a match shall forfeit this match and the opponent shall be declared the winner with a score of three goals to zero”.
There is a Clasico to come at Montjuic on the weekend of May 10/11 and if the teams finish level on points at the end of the season, the champions will be decided by whichever team has the better head to head record.
Thursday’s fixture had been postponed and rescheduled from March 8 following the death of Barcelona’s first-team doctor, Carles Minarro Garcia. Both Barca and Osasuna appealed the date it had been rescheduled for due to its proximity to the international break and the lack of rest time this would allow for, but this was rejected by the RFEF.
Osasuna have previously had a result against Barcelona overturned due to player eligibility rules; Barcelona Women were kicked out of the Copa de la Reina in January 2023 after fielding Geyse, who was suspended following a red card in the previous season’s competition, against Osasuna in the last-16.
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