Elche Launch Official Appeal Against FC Barcelona And Gavi Selection Which Could See Points Deducted

Elche have launched an appeal against FC Barcelona for their selection of midfielder Gavi on Saturday, COPE has reported, which might see the Catalans stripped of points if a ruling goes against them.

Gavi played a pivotal part in a 4-0 win for the visiting Blaugrana at the weekend that temporarily put them 15 points clear at the top of La Liga.

Before being booed off by a hostile crowd at the Estadio Martinez Valero, he provided an assist for Robert Lewandowski and was the Man of the Match in the eyes of many for his hardworking recoveries and passes.

On Sunday afternoon in Spain, COPE also reported through its Tiempo de Juego program that bottom of the league Elche were considering taking action for what they thought was an ‘improper’ selection of the 18-year-old.

On Tuesday, Elche have done just that with a mere
just
three minutes to spare before the deadline. Their appeal is based on the RFEF (the Royal Spanish Football Federation) article 141, which prevents players from “playing again in the same season with a canceled license.”

This pertains to problems Gavi has encountered having his new contract registered with La Liga this year.

When Barca won an appeal against the Spanish top flight to get this done, they swiftly awarded the youngster head coach Xavi Hernandez’s old number ‘6’ jersey.

After La Liga then won their own appeal to have the ruling overturned, however, Gavi was re-registered as a youth player and given his original number ’30’.

Shortly following Madrid-based publications like MARCA relaying the report from COPE, Catalan outlet SPORT denounced it as being “fake news”.

According to SPORT, Barca were “very calm” that Elche’s protests will come to nothing as they got approval from both the federation and the league on Friday with regards to picking Gavi to play.

The matter is now in the hands of the federation, which must decide what action it takes on the matter. If it rules in Elche’s favor, this will set a precedent for the rest of the season and could see Gavi sidelined.

More worryingly, it could also frustrate the Andalusian at a time when he has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave Barca for free this summer because of the current failure of getting it registered.