Barcelona
have been fined only 300 euros (£265) by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF)
for their approach to Antoine Griezmann while he was at La Liga rivals Atletico
Madrid.
Spanish champions Barcelona signed Griezmann after paying his 120m-euro (£107m) buyout clause on 1 July.
But
the federation said Barca broke its rules by negotiating with Griezmann without
Atletico’s permission.
Atletico
believed his buyout clause should have been 200m euros (£179m).
They
claimed that Barca began talking to the player in March, when that was the size
of his buyout clause.
His
cost then dropped to 120m euros at the start of July, which was when he signed
for Barca, but Atletico claimed the “commitment of the player and
Barcelona was closed” prior to the clause reducing.
The
player was absolved of any responsibility by the federation.
The
RFEF’s statement read: “Taking into account the economic capacity of the
club and the amount of the fine, this committee is aware that the payment of
300 euros, beyond its merely symbolic character, will not damage the sanctioned
club and, probably, will not persuade other clubs in the same situation in the
future to adjust their conduct to the regulations.”
However,
the RFEF determined that was “not a sufficient reason” to impose a
one-match closure of the Nou Camp – its only other possible sanction – which it
says is reserved for “infractions of a different nature”.
Griezmann
– who had announced in May he would leave the Madrid side – signed a five-year
deal with Barca, which includes an 800m euro (£717m) release clause, to become
the world’s sixth most expensive signing.
Following
the move, Atletico released a statement in which they expressed their
“strongest repulsion for the behaviour of both, especially
Barcelona”.
The
Madrid club previously reported Barcelona to Fifa over an alleged illegal
approach for Griezmann in December 2017. -BBC
