Barcelona found guilty in Griezman’s pursuit, fined ‘symbolic’ amount

The Catalan side secured the signing of the mercurial Frenchman from Atletico Madrid in the summer but have been found to have approached the player wrongfully and have therefore been handed a ‘symbolic’ fine.

The Spanish FA’s competition committee has released a statement which contained the ruling on the complaint lodged against Barcelona by Atletico Madrid over the Catalan club’s pursuit of Antoine Griezmann.

The federation, according to the ruling, have punished Barcelona with a fine of just 300 euros.

An alternative punishment could have involved closure of the Camp Nou and was considered given that Barcelona’s economic might would make this fine a drop in the ocean, but ultimately the punishment agreed upon was that of the fine.

Atletico’s complaints stemmed from their assertion that Barcelona negotiated Griezmann’s transfer with the player during the springtime when his release clause was 200 million euros, before activating that clause in July once it had dropped to 120m euros.

According to the Spanish FA’s competition committee, it could not be proven that Griezmann signed a contract with Barcelona while he had one running with Atletico.

It was, though, established that Barcelona opened negotiations in this period without advising Atletico.

The statement went on to try to explain the small nature of the fine.

“This committee is aware that the fine of 300 euros, besides the symbolic nature of it, won’t lead the sanctioned club and probably other clubs in the same situation in the future to follow the regulations, but this isn’t sufficient reason for the committee to opt for another sanction – such as the proposed closure of the stadium – as that is for infractions of another nature,” it said.