The big problem of Catalan football: "We are selling illusions and the country very cheaply"

Barcelona“Catalan boys and girls have 30% of the opportunities they would have if they lived elsewhere in the State”. This is the complaint made by UE Olot, as representative of Catalan non-professional clubs along with Nàstic, at the assembly of the Catalan Football Federation (FCF) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). The team from Garrotxa has raised its voice to denounce the imbalance that exists between the number of Catalan licenses and the places that Catalan clubs obtain in the semi-professional categories (Primera, Segunda, and Tercera Federación).

Football in Spain is organized according to geographical criteria that coincide with the federations. The RFEF seeks to balance the groups so that all parts of the State have the same opportunities to place teams in the top categories. This is particularly reflected in the Tercera Federación, which has 18 groups, one for each autonomous community (except Andalusia, which is divided into two groups).

A criterion that generates injustices in areas where there is a higher number of licenses. Catalonia has the most female football players, with 18,578, 18.26% of the total, and therefore, Catalan clubs are the most disadvantaged in this division of places, according to the latest data from the 2023-24 season. “The deficit in the promotion of current women's football is 70%. These are such exaggerated numbers that it's strange that if the federation is asleep, the clubs don't say anything”, claims Joan Agustí, president of UE Olot. Following the criterion of the number of licenses –which is what the Olot club proposes–, Catalan football would be entitled to 18% of the places in each semi-professional category.

The numbers, however, indicate something quite different. In the current 2025-26 season, only 12 of the 207 clubs participating in the women's Tercera Federación are Catalan. This represents 6% of the total, figures similar to those in the Segunda Federación –three out of 42 (7%)–. Where the percentage corresponding to Catalonia is indeed surpassed is in the Primera Federación, where three of the 14 teams (Europa, Lleida, and Barça B) are Catalan (21%). However, the figure is once again in danger with the relegation of Europa and a possible relegation of Lleida.

Far from improving, the changes implemented by the Spanish federation to women's football have worsened the situation. This season, the Tercera Federación has been expanded from six groups and 96 teams to 18 groups and 207 teams, while the Segunda Federación has gone from 32 to 42 clubs, with one more group. This has reduced the percentage of Catalan teams in the fourth category of Spanish football (Tercera Federación), which has gone from 8% in the 2024-25 season to the current 6%. The Catalan federation points out to l’ARA that they are aware of the problem and assure this newspaper that they are in conversations with the RFEF to “review and improve the model of the women's Tercera RFEF”.

The system proposed by Olot

A problem also present in men's footballThe Garrocha entity has expressed this proposal to both the assembly of the Spanish federation and the Catalan one. “We are a club that aspires for the Catalan federation to defend its rights, and it has never done so. No one speaks at the RFEF, but we have stood up to ask for a review of the competition. We have also asked for half of the federation's treasury balance to reach non-professional football –describes Agustí–. We can make this proposal with Nàstic in Madrid, where at least they listen to you and answer you politely. When we express it in the Catalan federation assemblies, they mock us,” adds the top leader of Olot.

A problem also present in men's football

In men's football, the situation is similar. Catalonia is the second autonomous community with the most licenses –142,912, 15.15%, only surpassed by Andalusia (16.65%)–. In contrast, in the First Federation, only three out of 40 teams are Catalan, 7.5%. In the Second Federation, the percentage increases slightly to 9% (8 out of 90), but drops in the Third Federation, where there is only one Catalan group representing 5.5% of the total. In all three categories, therefore, there is a significant deficit of places for Catalonia.

A change in the organization would also mean more money coming into Catalan football, which would help clubs grow while maintaining the essence of the territory. “What cannot happen is that clubs manage their economy poorly, overextend themselves, and end up being owned by foreign capital. In other words, we are selling our illusions and our country very cheaply,” denounces the president of Olot, one of the few teams that maintains its deep roots in Catalonia and, especially, in La Garrotxa. “If we don't fight, we are accomplices in a situation that is absolutely unjust,” concludes Joan Agustí.