Barcelona threatens UEFA Champions League disqualification amid Super League revival

As per a recent report, Barcelona might face substantial fines and a potential ban from participating in the UEFA Champions League due to non-compliance with UEFA's financial regulations. The Spanish giants reported a profit of €304 million last year after activating various financial mechanisms, but they might still fall short of meeting UEFA's minimum requirements. If this happens, the European football body could disqualify and prohibit Barcelona from participating in all major club tournaments—UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.

A German newspaper, Die Welt, published an investigation concluding that there's a real threat of Barcelona's exclusion from the UEFA Champions League tournament in the 2024/25 season.

Barcelona announced a profit of €304 million in September last year. However, from the perspective of UEFA's financial regulations, only sales directly attributable to football operations hold significance. The club's latest annual report, despite significant revenue from future television and marketing rights sales, as well as other sports ventures, highlights extraordinary financial inflows. The expenditures do not align with regular incomes—they are all irregular. The process initiated by UEFA against Barcelona at that time remains unresolved. It is still awaiting a decision.

According to the German media, this income does not affect UEFA's assessment. Die Welt asserts that UEFA members even remarked that the club's balance was a "disaster." A potential sanction that could be imposed on the team might be a "two to three-year" disqualification from participating in the UEFA Champions League. "The greater the losses, the greater the penalty," sources within the European organization informed Die Welt.

The news of Barcelona's potential exclusion from the UEFA Champions League emerged following the European Court's decision, which paved the way for the return of the European Super League. This new tournament, positioned as a club-led competition seeking to replace the UEFA Champions League, has garnered substantial support from Barcelona and their staunch rival, Real Madrid, since the attempted launch of the Super League in 2021.