Antoine Griezmann has featured prominently in the news cycles in Barcelona due to his treatment by Atletico Madrid. Griezmann is a Barcelona player, currently on a loan at Atletico Madrid. The Rojiblancos have an obligation to buy clause to sign the attacker for €40, only if Griezmann features in 50% of the matches. However, Atletico Madrid have found a loophole around this contract.
The loophole in the contract is that the matches are counted if and only if Griezmann plays 45 minutes or more in a particular match. Atletico Madrid are exploiting this loophole to its fullest and are yet to offer the Barcelona player on loan more than 30 minutes of match time in league matches. This means Griezmann hasn’t started once in the four league matches played so far despite his brilliant performances. Now, according to a report by RAC1, Barcelona wants to file a lawsuit against Atletico Madrid for their treatment of Griezmann.
Barcelona believes that Atletico owes them the money for Griezmann. Barcelona are confident that they are right in their demand for the €40 million payment. The Rojiblancos are also confident in their stance as well and they believe that they are not committing any violations. Despite putting in consistent performances for Atletico, Griezmann is the player most affected by this tug of war between the clubs. His brilliant performances in La Liga as well as in the Champions League are not enough to warrant him a starting place in the Atletico Madrid side. This affects his chance of selection for the World Cup in November.
Atletico not breaking any laws, and Barcelona powerless to intervene
According to a re[ort by Mundo Deportivo, Atletico Madrid are in the right regarding this situation with Barcelona. They are citing several reasons for this, majorly, the player’s right to effective occupation. According to Spanish Law, the right to effective occupation extends only to training. Effective occupation implies that the player can exercise with the group and not be discriminated against. However, it does not require having to be able to play. This season, Griezmann has his registration with Atletico Madrid in the Spanish League. Atletico provides him with all the perks as stipulated by the Spanish Laws. Effectively, Atletico Madrid are not breaking any laws in their treatment of Griezmann and Barcelona cannot intervene in this matter. This puts Barcelona in a precarious situation. Either they have to either terminate Griezmann’s loan or lower his asking price.
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