Atletico Madrid pursued Barcelona claiming that the club had not met the buyout clause.
Barcelona have been handed a fine of €300 by the Spanish Football Federation for the way the club handled the transfer of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid, per Daily Mail. France forward Griezmann joined Barcelona for €120 million earlier in the summer, signing a five-year deal.
However, Atletico were determined to pursue Barcelona for an additional €80 million after claiming the fee received was insufficient to cover the player’s buyout clause.
Atletico believed the transfer was agreed before the 28-year-old’s buyout clause was reduced from €200 million on July 1st. Griezmann had announced in mid-May he was going to be leaving Madrid.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) revealed the findings of its competition committee on Thursday, stating Barcelona had made a “minor infringement” of the disciplinary code covering negotiations with their La Liga rivals. However, in coming to the decision to hand out what is effectively only a token fine, the RFEF said a stadium ban would not have been appropriate.
Now according to Sky Sports, Barcelona are set to appeal their €300 fine. Although such a small fine is meaningless to a club of Barcelona’s size and resources, accepting it could be construed as an admission of wrongdoing, so their appeal is likely intended to contradict that perception.
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