Barcelona face threat of Copa del Rey expulsion – report

Barcelona face the prospect of disqualification from this season’s Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player against Levante, report El Mundo.

The report claims that one of Barca’s players for their defeat last week – Juan Brandáriz , better known as Chumi – was not sanctioned to play in the match due to being banned whilst playing for the club’s B side.

The report cites the disciplinary code article 56.3 as stating: “The sanctioned player will not be able to feature in any of these teams or clubs until the number of days to which the sanction applies expires.”

Article 76 of the Disciplinary Code of the Spanish Football Federation is also quoted: “A club that improperly aligns a player for not meeting the regulatory requirements to participate in a match, will lose this match, declaring their opponent the winner with the result of three goals to nil, unless they have obtained a higher score.

“If the competition is for points, in which case this will be maintained, or if it was in an elimination match (as would apply in this case), the outcome in question will be resolved in favour of their opponent.”

El Mundo cites ‘legal sources’ as claiming expulsion from the competition – of which Barca have won the last three editions – is a real possibility.

Three seasons ago, Real Madrid were expelled from the competition for fielding Denis Cheryshev against Cadiz.

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