The Supreme Court overturns the Seient Lliure policy and affected season ticket holders can claim money from Barça
The courts have invalidated the reform of this system that was carried out in 2018 under Bartomeu's presidency.
BarcelonaAnother legal setback for Barça. The Supreme Court has overturned the reform of Article 73 of the club's statutes, approved in October 2018 during Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency, which prohibited members from transferring their season tickets in exchange for any kind of financial compensation. The ruling, reported by The CountryThe court has ruled the statutory amendment null and void, finding that legal requirements and the members' right to information were not met. This ruling opens the door to potential multi-million euro claims from thousands of season ticket holders who, for over seven years, had to exclusively use the club's official system, called Seient Lliure (Free Seat), to transfer their seats when they weren't attending matches. The reform was approved following the scandal involving the massive resale of tickets for the Barça-Madrid match in May 2018. The reform stipulated financial penalties for members who transferred their season tickets for money and required them to transfer their seats through the Seient Lliure system. This wasn't the first time the system had generated controversy, as the club had previously been accused of reselling tickets as free seats. VIP Seats released by season ticket holders, who received compensation far below the final price at which the club resold their seats, but that's a different story.
The scandal of that Clásico in May 2018 resulted, in addition to the reform of the statutes, in the club sanctioning more than 2,800 members who were banned from entering Camp Nou for a season for the alleged irregular transfer of their season tickets for the match. 26 of those sanctioned hired the services of the law firm BMG Abogados, which, led by Luis Miralbell Guerin, took the sanction and the reform of the statutes to court. The ruling considers that Barça did not comply with the public information process required by Article 81 of its own statutes and thus violated the members' rights to participation and information.
Thousands of season ticket holders can claim money from Barça
Thus, the Supreme Court annuls the reform implemented in 2018 and allows all season ticket holders to claim from the club the benefits they have lost in recent years. "Herein lies the most significant aspect of the ruling. The principle of nullity." ab initio —that is, the rule is considered as if it had never existed— implies that all actions taken under its protection between October 2018 and February 2026 are subject to review,” explains BMG Abogados. “Those who used the Seient Lliure (Free Seat) program—where the difference between the amount paid to the member and the retail price can be very significant, especially for high-demand matches—or risked being sanctioned under a rule that has now been declared null and void.” Those who, during the period 2018-2026, used the Seient Lliure program in a context where the threat of sanction conditioned their freedom of choice, could face the possibility of claiming damages arising from this situation.” And it concludes: “If this scenario is confirmed, the aggregate economic impact of these claims could reach a significant magnitude. The Supreme Court is emphatic: being null and void, the article must be considered as if it had never been in force. This means that the previous wording in October 2018 is reinstated. And what does that mean? They risked being sanctioned by the club.” The court decision does not prevent Barça from promoting a similar modification of the statutes again and putting it to the assembly for approval, but the call for elections for the presidency of the club makes it impossible to hold an assembly in the short term.