Spain and Barcelona youngster Gavi sustained a terrible ACL injury which will keep him out for the rest of this season. The 19-year-old sustained this injury during the international break playing for Spain. He has been a key player for both his club and his country’s teams. His loss will be especially felt by La Blaugrana with the amount of injured players they are already handling. However, according to the FIFA Club Protection Programme, the Catalan club could be compensated at least €3 million for Gavi’s missing days.
Barcelona and Spain midfielder Gavi sustained a horrible injury to his knee. He had to be taken off in the 26th minute of their Euro qualifiers game against Georgia. The ACL injury has turned out to be so severe.
There is a chance, FIFA will need to compensate Barcelona for Gavi’s injury. As per the FIFA Club Protection Programme, they could pay up to €20,548 per day to a club for a player who has been injured during the international break.
If the players remain injured for more than 28 days, then the clubs become eligible for compensation. As a result, Barcelona could start to get their payment from December 10th. As per the programme, FIFA could pay for a maximum of 365 days and could pay a maximum of €7.5 million.
The daily payment amount is calculated depending on the salary the injured player receives from his club. If Gavi is out for 6 months, FIFA could need to pay up to €3 million to Barcelona. If it extends to 8 months, the amount could rise to €4.3 million.
Gavi will have to go through surgery in the coming few days and his recovery could take months. Barcelona reported that the 19-year-old has ‘a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and an associated injury to the lateral meniscus’.
Reportedly, he will remain out for the rest of the season. He could even miss the Euro 2024 finals games for Spain next year. Barcelona will especially feel his absence as Gavi has been playing an extremely important part in Xavi’s plan for the club.
On top of that, La Blaugrana had already been missing a large number of key players to injury. They failed to progress from the Champions League group stages in the last 2 seasons. Gavi’s absence along with the other key players could cost them another chance to qualify for the knockout stages.
It’s not a surprise that Barcelona would be displeased with the situation. Especially when Spain had already qualified for the Euro 2024 finals before the match against Georgia. Spain coach Luis De La Fuente rested some of his regular players for the match.
However, he chose to play the youngster in both of their matches this month. After the match, the coach said, “He was broken, shattered, he didn’t understand that this could happen to him. It’s the hardest and most bitter moment I’ve ever experienced in soccer.“
He added, “He stepped badly and his knee is gone. Football is a risky activity. Uncontrollable. I am very sorry for the player. Really. I understand everyone’s disgust, of Barcelona, of the player, of the Federation. We feel it in the soul.” Yet, this is not a one-off occurrence.
Real Madrid’s key players Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Jr will be out for months. They also sustained these during their national duties. In the November international break alone, both Man United and Man City are now worried about their first-team players Andre Onana and Erling Haaland respectively.
FIFA approved the insurance program for clubs after Bayern Munich complained about Arjen Robben’s injury at the 2010 World Cup. That protection programme was extended for the 2023-2026 men’s World Cup period.
