Official Statement Regarding the Decision of the Competition Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation

Club Atlético Osasuna received notification this morning of the decision by the Competition Committee, which dismissed the club's protest regarding the alleged ineligible participation of FC Barcelona defender Iñigo Martínez in the match between the two clubs on March 27. In response to the committee's decision, the club wishes to make the following points:

1) Article 5 of Annex 1 of the FIFA Regulations states: "A player summoned by his association to one of its representative teams may not, unless otherwise agreed by the association in question, play for the club to which he is registered during the period for which he has been released or should have been released, in accordance with the provisions of this annex, plus an additional period of five days." It is an objective fact that those five days had not elapsed when Iñigo Martínez participated in the match with his club. The Competition Committee based its decision on the clause, "unless otherwise agreed by the association in question." However, the communication issued by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on March 17 regarding Iñigo Martínez's withdrawal from the national team referred solely to medical reasons, including specific medical information justifying the withdrawal. Therefore, Club Atlético Osasuna understands that the withdrawal was based on a medical absence rather than an "agreement" by the RFEF to release the player.

2) The Competition Committee's ruling asserts that "in this case, the association (RFEF), by allowing the players to withdraw from international duty without imposing any restrictions and subsequently issuing the withdrawal certification, implicitly expressed its intent not to apply the prohibitive rule, thus allowing them to play for their club." Club Atlético Osasuna does not agree that there was any "implicit communication" of the RFEF's intent not to apply the regulation. The only clear and demonstrable communication was explicit and made no reference to "allowing the players to leave the camp without restrictions." No such reference exists either in the public communication on the RFEF's website or in the notifications received by Club Atlético Osasuna and FC Barcelona on March 17 regarding the players' medical withdrawals (Bryan Zaragoza and Iñigo Martínez).

3) The Competition Committee's decision merely certifies that the national team's medical staff validated the medical information provided by FC Barcelona, without offering further details. Club Atlético Osasuna believes the medical circumstances surrounding this case are particularly relevant since the player's withdrawal was due to medical reasons, and his rapid recovery enabled his participation in the league match. The club, therefore, believes that the matter should have been examined more thoroughly than it was in the committee's resolution. According to the case file accessed by the club, the national team's medical staff accepted FC Barcelona's assurance that the player would undergo medical tests upon returning to Barcelona after the match against Atlético de Madrid on March 16. Club Atlético Osasuna, in contrast, sent Bryan Zaragoza to Las Rozas for a medical evaluation on March 17 because it could not guarantee the necessary tests would be completed in Pamplona before the deadline of 1 p.m. It is surprising, therefore, that the medical report provided by FC Barcelona and validated by the RFEF is dated March 16, despite their match against Atlético de Madrid ending at 11 p.m. that day. Furthermore, the report was emailed to the RFEF at 2:33 a.m. on March 17 upon the team's arrival back in Barcelona, without mention of any additional medical tests — none of which appear in the case file either. There is also no indication in the file or the Competition Committee's ruling that the additional tests requested by the head of the national team's medical services were ever conducted. Moreover, the medical report lacks any detailed information.

Finally, the club expresses its surprise at the comment made by FC Barcelona, suggesting it was "unbecoming of a club with Osasuna's history" to raise suspicions of potential fraud, when, given the facts described, serious doubts are entirely reasonable. It is astonishing that such a cynical and baseless comment comes from those who would do well to review their own recent conduct in FC Barcelona's history.

In disagreement with today's decision, Club Atlético Osasuna will file an appeal with the Appeals Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, an institution evidently involved in the matter at hand.