Barça strips Ter Stegen of his captaincy

BarcelonaMarc-André ter Stegen is no longer Barça's first captain. At least, temporarily. The club confirmed this in a statement, specifying that the measure is provisional "until the disciplinary proceedings" it has opened are resolved. Ronald Araujo will therefore assume the role of first captain of the team. The decision was made this Thursday by president Joan Laporta, along with sporting director Deco and coach Hansi Flick. It is a new chapter in the war between Barça and Ter Stegen: The club wants to find a way out for him, but the German is entrenched in staying and is not making it easy for Joan Garcia, the goalkeeper that Barça signed this summer, to be registered. He understands that the impediments related to the fair play financial is not their business.

Specifically, Ter Stegen visited the Ciutat Esportiva this Thursday to carry out some specific work, club sources explain. It was a brief visit, lasting less than two hours, and the goalkeeper left again without making any statements to the media waiting for him at the door. Meanwhile, a key meeting was taking place in the offices between the president, the sporting directors, and the coaching staff. Laporta's position was clear, and, as specified in the Barcelona statement, the decision was agreed upon with Deco and Flick. However, in practice, both the sporting director and the coach accepted the president's reasons, who is very upset with Ter Stegen for his refusal to consent to a report stating he will be out for more than four months, which would allow part of his salary to be used to temporarily register Joan Garcia. The Mönchengladbach native believes it will be ready in three months.

The club justifies that a suspended employee cannot represent his teammates. The relationship between Laporta and the then-captain has become increasingly distant as the weeks have passed, reaching the point of no return. The situation became more complicated when Ter Stegen began preseason with back pain and decided to undergo surgery at his own expense, announcing it against the club's wishes. This was the first truly painful episode for the board. The final straw was his refusal to indirectly collaborate with Joan Garcia's registration.

At Barça, they believe Ter Stegen has acted in bad faith.

The club believes Ter Stegen is acting in bad faith because he's upset with the signing of the ex-parakeet. Therefore, he's blocking the option of classifying his absence as long-term (more than four months), which would allow up to 80% of his salary to be used to extend the salary cap and facilitate the registration of the Sallent-born goalkeeper. They accuse him of bypassing medical services, stating that his outage would be a maximum of three months. This fact, and his refusal to sign the authorization to send the report to the La Liga medical committee to assess whether it was a short- or long-term injury, are the reasons Barça is giving for opening disciplinary proceedings against him.

The player, however, stands by his position. He contradicts Barça's doctors and also believes that once recovered, he could fight for a starting spot in a crucial year, as he could be the starting goalkeeper for the German national team at the World Cup for the first time. Furthermore, he argues that Barça acquired Garcia long before knowing he would have to undergo surgery. In this conflict, the goalkeeper has some allies outside of Barça, such as the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE), which has already contacted them to support and reassure him regarding his refusal to sign the authorization.

But Barça is loaded with arguments to defend its case. For example, it considers it inconsistent that Ter Stegen is now invoking privacy when refusing to sign the authorization to send his medical report to Madrid. As sports law specialist Cristian Zarroca explained to ARA, the data protection law—and more specifically what refers to health—prevents data from being shared without authorization. However, the club believes it was the goalkeeper who waived this privacy by publishing the statement on social media where he explained what he had. This is one of the arguments Barça considers most compelling when defending the case and a hypothetical sanction.

From there, the case moves to the courtroom. The next step is for Ter Stegen and his lawyers to provide evidence to the club that supports their three-month theory. Barça admits that the case could end with a sanction or be shelved. Although the royal courts are not ruling out the possibility that the situation could become entrenched and eventually be resolved in the ordinary courts. Among other reasons, because, once he recovers, Barça's position is that Ter Stegen will not play another minute in a Barça shirt.

Araujo assumes the duties of captain and will speak on Sunday at the Gamper Stadium.

In the short term, Ter Stegen's captaincy remains vacant, and his duties will be assumed by Araujo, who will address the fans on Sunday at the Joan Gamper Trophy. Pending the resolution of the case, the other three captains are De Jong, Pedri, and Raphinha. The decision has generated some surprise in the locker room. Although some players disagree with their teammate's behavior, they believe the decision to strip a captaincy is not the club's, but rather the players'.

Meanwhile, Barça will have to find an alternative way to register Joan Garcia as a goalkeeper before the start of La Liga. Ter Stegen's withdrawal was "the shortest route," in the words of president Laporta, but not the only one. They will have to work against the clock, considering that, with one week to go until the official debut, the 1:1 rule on transfers has not yet been reinstated. The club says it will be a success, but admits it will be at the last minute.