The fallout from Barcelona’s Copa Del Rey win over Levante continues, with the side from Valencia filing a fresh complaint over Barca’s use of ineligible defender Chumi in the first leg.
Barcelona turned a 2-1 first leg deficit into a 4-2 aggregate win, with Ousmane Dembele scoring twice in a 3-0 second leg victory at Camp Nou.
Levante subsequently appealed to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) the following morning.
But Spanish chiefs decided that Levante’s complaint was made too late, deeming that they should have done so within the 24 hour window after the first match, as stated within Spanish rules.
Chumi, 19, had played in the game in Valencia despite picking up a fifth yellow card, and thus a suspension, in a Barca B fixture on January 6.
Federation rules state that a suspended player cannot play for the senior team until he has completed a sanction, but Chumi played against Levante – subsequently missing the January 13 clash with Alcoyano.
Barca insisted that was the right match for him to miss, arguing that they believed the suspension was only valid for league games. Los Cules argued that, according to a recent clarification issued by the RFEF on the wording of its rules, Chumi’s ban was applicable to La Liga, and not the Spanish Cup.
However, that was denied by the RFEF.