Barcelona fined over illegal Antoine Greizmann approach
La Liga giants Barcelona have been fined a 300 euros (£265) by the Spanish Football Federation for their illegal approach to Antoine Greizmann while he was still a player of Atletico Madrid. Greizmann signed for Barcelona this summer after the club paid £107 million buy-out clause on 1 July.
The Spanish Federation have come to the conclusion that Barca started negotiations with Greizmann without Atletico Madrid’s permission. Atletico believed that Frenchman’s buyout clause should have been £179m. Los Rojiblancos feel that Barcelona started negotiating with Greizmann in March when the player’s buy-out clause was £179 million.
Greizmann’s contract had a stipulation that his buy-out clause would fall to £107 million in July. As soon as his clause dropped, he signed for the Catalan club, but Atletico claimed the "commitment of the player and Barcelona was closed" prior to the clause reducing. The Worldcup winner was not held guilty by the Federation and was absolved of any charges.
The RFEF's statement read: "Taking into account the economic capacity of the club and the amount of the fine, this committee is aware that the payment of 300 euros, beyond its merely symbolic character, will not damage the sanctioned club and, probably, will not persuade other clubs in the same situation in the future to adjust their conduct to the regulations."
BBC’s report states that Atletico Madrid demanded the payment of the full release clause, a hefty fine for the accused parties and a one-match closure of the Nou Camp. However, the Federation determined that was "not a sufficient reason" to impose a one-match closure of the Nou Camp.
Greizmann signed a 5 year deal with the Spanish champions with a release clause of £717 million. Greizmann is the sixth most expensive signing behind players like Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Philippe Coutinho. The 28-year-old is yet to justify his price as Barcelona continue to struggle in La Liga.