Barca fielded an ineligible player... but they will not be punished for it

Levante filed a complaint against Barcelona as they felt Chumi was unable to play in the first leg of the Copa del Rey last 16 tie. After various appeals, the judge has accepted that Levante were right.

However, this decision will not cause any problems for Barcelona nor give any benefit for Levante as the original complaint was filed after the deadline.

Therefore, the consequences of article 76 of the Spanish Football Federation's disciplinary code will not be applied and the 'Chumi case' has now been closed.

April 17, 2019

Levante appealed to the Competition committee, the appeals committee and then the Spanish sports court which all rejected their complaint. Finally, the club from Valencia insisted in another complaint which has at least proved them right. 

"There is no infraction or irregularity. I don't mean we cannot make a mistake, but we chekced the line-up was made according to the rules and interpretation. We understood he could play and we are calm," said Josep Vives at the time, showing the calm that there was at Barcelona after the first leg of the cup tie.