fifa

FC Barcelona to sign new players after the FIFA suspended its previous decision

April 24, 2014 11:19 AM

FC Barcelona has responded positively to the decision announced on Wednesday by FIFA’s Appeal Committee to provisionally grant suspensive effect to the appeal made by the Catalan club against the sanction imposed by FIFA’s Disciplinary Commission. The sanction was announced by the FIFA Disciplinary Commission last April 2 and prevented FC Barcelona from signing players during the next two transfer windows. The Catalan club presented an appeal against the measure within the required period.

FC Barcelona to appeal the sanction imposed by the FIFA banning the club from signing new players

April 3, 2014 10:44 AM

FC Barcelona has issued an official response to the sanction imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Commission on the Royal Federation of Spanish Football and the Catalan club for infractions related to the transfer and registration of players under the age of 18. Barça will be presenting an appeal to the FIFA and should it be necessary, it will take the resulting resolution to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The FIFA has banned the Catalan club from signing new players during an entire year. This unusual sanction would leave FC Barcelona without being able to hire a much needed new keeper and centre-back. The Catalan club defends his youth training system, which has given players such as Leo Messi, awarded on many occasions by the FIFA.

FC Barcelona dominate FIFPro XI since 2006

January 14, 2014 08:11 PM

Dani Alves, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and Leo Messi were yesterday named as part of the FIFA/FIFPro World XI 2013 - a team chosen by more than 50,000 players from around the globe. With four players in the side, Barça were once again the club with most representatives. FC Barcelona have been the team providing most players to the World XI for the last 8 years (though they shared that honour with Real Madrid in 2012, when both sides provided 5 players each). Leo Messi has appeared in each of the last 7 selections and Xavi in the last 6.

Leo Messi finishes second in FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013

January 14, 2014 11:50 AM

The Barça forward, who has won the last four editions of the Ballon d'Or, finished second behind Cristiano Ronaldo and ahead of Frank Ribéry. Messi has finished in the top three for seven consecutive years and has won the last four editions of the prize. After the Gala, Leo Messi said, “it’s a pleasure to be here for a seventh consecutive year. It’s very nice.” When asked about Cristiano Ronaldo, he said: “before anything else I want to congratulate him. He had a great year and his emotion is very understandable.” The 26-year-old Argentinian garnered 24.72% of the vote, while Ronaldo got 27.99% and Ribéry got 23.36%. This is the highest vote percentage of any second-place finish since the FIFA World Player and Ballon d’Or were consolidated into one award.

Tito Vilanova: “Excitement is guaranteed against Málaga”

January 15, 2013 07:36 PM | Anna Segura

FC Barcelona Manager is wary Málaga despite the 1 to 3 result at La Rosaleda this Sunday: "It will be more difficult because our rival will play with the result". Vilanova called on the Camp Nou faithful to attend the match: "We have the chance to watch a game worthy of the Champions League. Excitement is guaranteed, in addition Messi will offer up his fourth Ballon d'Or". On Pep Guardiola's future, the Barça manager said that "it's great news [that he's coming back]. Football needs the best coach to manage again".

Messi after receiving his second Golden Boot: “My dream is to be a Barça player when I retire”

October 29, 2012 08:12 PM | CNA

Beyond awards, individual or otherwise, for Leo Messi the “most important thing is that I continue to grow at Barça and I’d like to continue growing until the end”. The world’ number one player received this Monday in Barcelona his second Golden Boot, recognising him as last season’s top scorer in European leagues. Besides, 5 FC Barcelona players – Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Piqué and Busquets – are among the 23 candidates for the next FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

Leo Messi wins his third Ballon d'Or and Catalan Josep Guardiola is awarded the best manager of 2011

January 9, 2012 10:24 PM | CNA

The Argentinean star is named by FIFA as the best player of 2011. This is Messi’s third straight Ballon d’Or Award. Messi equals Platini, Cruyff and Van Basten, the only players to ever win three Ballon d’Or titles. The Barça boss, who won 5 titles with FC Barcelona in 12 months, beat last year's winner, José Mourinho, and Sir Alex Ferguson. Guardiola dedicated the title to his assistant coach, Tito Vilanova. Besides, 5 Barça players are in the FIFA's Best Eleven of the Year: Alves, Piqué, Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi. Two of them are Catalan and four are home grown players.