The Origins of Non-Compete Clauses at Barça

How Did Non-Compete Clauses Arrive at Barça? Julian Araujo, on loan from Barça, will not play in Sunday’s match against Las Palmas Pablo Torres missed facing the Blaugrana while with Girona Several clubs, when loaning out a player, insist on including a clause in the contract that prevents the player from competing against their parent club. One such club is Barça. So far this season, the only player unable to face the Blaugrana due to this reason has been Pablo Torres, on loan at Girona. The Cantabrian missed both league matches against Barcelona. Technically, there was an option for him to play, but Girona would have had to pay €300,000 to Barça for that privilege.

Julian Araujo knew from the start that he wouldn’t face Barça this season. The Mexican committed to UD Las Palmas in the summer and has been having an excellent campaign on loan with the Canarian side. In fact, Barcelona wants him to be part of their squad next season. However, he won’t be on the pitch at Montjuïc next Sunday.

Xavi, before facing Girona, explained clearly in a press conference regarding Pablo Torres, but his remarks also apply to today’s Las Palmas full-back: “I think it’s fine. One of our players should never go against us.” He also recalled what happened with Joao Felix in the first leg, something that would repeat in the second: “What happened to Atlético with Joao Felix, what do you think?”

Mateu Alemany, an Ally The Barça coach is one of the staunchest advocates of the non-compete clause among the club’s sporting officials. Upon arriving at the Barça bench, he made it a priority in any loan deal for his players. He wasn’t alone. Mateu Alemany, the former director of the Football Area, was one of his biggest allies. In fact, including such clauses in player loans had the consensus of the entire sports management, and Jordi Cruyff, at the time, did not express any objections. The reasons for this are obvious: you’re paying part of the player’s salary, and it’s not part of Barça’s plans for that player to harm the team they belong to. Abde, on loan to Osasuna, and Nico, when loaned to Valencia, were examples of this.

When Deco took over as sporting director, replacing Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, he had no problem maintaining this policy when loaning out players. And if there are no changes in plans, it will continue to be so.