Spanish court 'puts pressure' on La Liga boss for leaking Barcelona data

The Spanish Administrative Sports Court (TAD) has reopened an investigation file against La Liga President Javier Tebas. This decision was made during a meeting on Thursday, March 26, after the initial procedure launched by TAD itself on November 21 had concluded without any ruling.

The case stems from a complaint filed by Miguel Galan, President of CENAFE, to the President of the Spanish High Council for Sports (CSD) José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes on August 12 last year. In the complaint, Galan requested disciplinary removal of Javier Tebas, accusing him of five particularly serious violations under Article 76.2.a of Sports Law 10/1990, due to failure to comply with neutrality obligations.

Specifically, the complaint targets La Liga's public disclosure of information and data that Barcelona had submitted to the league organizer for implementing budget regulations for clubs and sports stock companies. This information was published by La Liga in a notice on its website on April 2, 2025.

According to the CENAFE President's view, that action constitutes a particularly serious violation under Sports Law. Now, TAD must restart a procedure similar to the one opened last November, which ended on February 24 without any conclusion.

The Court's first step is to appoint Jaime Caravaca, a member of this body, as the investigating judge handling the file. Next, TAD will formally notify Javier Tebas, and he will have 10 days to submit responses regarding the decision to initiate proceedings. If no response is filed within this period, that absence may be considered as a proposed conclusion of the case.

As previously mentioned, applicable penalties in this case range from public reprimand, suspension from office for a period of 2 months to 1 year, up to removal.

TAD reopening the file this time clearly raises further doubts about the handling process itself. It should also be recalled that before leaving the Barcelona presidency due to elections, Joan Laporta had personally presented before TAD to express opposition to the case, while emphasizing that Barcelona did not suffer any damage from the public disclosure of this information. Additionally, La Liga had previously responded to the Catalan club's request to remove the aforementioned data from its website.