Ter Stegen's absence, in the hands of LaLiga: When will the ruling be issued?

The board of FC Barcelona finally sent the medical report of Marc-André ter Stegen to LaLiga. Once the goalkeeper's signature was resolved, an indispensable requirement to send the documentation to the employers, the Medical Commission will be in charge of determining the period of absence of the 33-year-old footballer.

In principle, the official medical report from LaLiga should be confirmed no later than next Wednesday. Barça had a period of 25 days to send the report, after the goalkeeper underwent surgery on July 29 in Bordeaux.

Now, there are 20 extra days for the club, through the long-term absence of the '1', to register Joan García and Wojciech Szczesny, first and second option for the Barça goal in 25/26. The market closes on September 1, but Barça hopes to have everything resolved this week. For the moment, in addition to Ter Stegen, only Iñaki Peña is registered as far as goalkeepers are concerned.

The Medical Commission will determine Ter Stegen's period of absence

LaLiga's Medical Commission consists of four expert traumatologists: Drs. Fernández Jaén, Baro Pazos, Pérez San Roque and Ardèvol. The latter, being a former head of medical services at Barça, will remain outside the evaluation of the report sent by the Barça team.

If the remaining three doctors unanimously approve the official Barça report, LaLiga will immediately confirm Ter Stegen's period of absence. If, on the contrary, one of the doctors differs from the specifications and deadlines set by the club, the three doctors will meet to set a final resolution.

In that last scenario, according to LaLiga's internal regulations, in its Circular 9 (in force since the 2007/08 season), the Commission could call the goalkeeper to clarify "medical reports or complementary tests that are discordant or imprecise" in the documentation sent by Barça.

In principle, the '1' assured that he would be ready to return in a maximum period of three months. The club, however, set his recovery time at more than four months. Beyond his initial refusal, the goalkeeper finally signed the Barça report, after speaking personally with president Joan Laporta.

Once the signature and subsequent sending of the medical report was resolved, the club returned the captaincy to the German international, suspending the opening of disciplinary proceedings for refusing to carry out an ordinary administrative procedure.

Can LaLiga contradict Barça's medical report?

According to the aforementioned Circular 9, a long-term injury is considered to be "any illness whose diagnosis and treatment is carried out during the period of competition and that meets the established requirements". In the case of 'Matts', it is a back injury that required surgery.

At the end of November 2023, the goalkeeper underwent the same operation and managed to recover in just three months (he returned in mid-February 2024). Now, as it is a relapse, the ideal is to set a longer recovery period to avoid future complications.

According to the provisions of article 107 of the Regulations for the Preparation of LaLiga Budgets, FC Barcelona may reuse 80% of Ter Stegen's fee to register other players only if his absence is confirmed for five or more months. If his recovery time is estimated at four months, this percentage will be 50%.

Although the club released salary margin this week thanks to the departure of Iñigo Martínez to Saudi Al Nassr, the board still needs to resolve Marc-André's absence to resolve the registration of Joan García. This is because the 'culés' still cannot operate under the 1:1 rule and, therefore, can only reuse 60% of the margin released by any loan, sale or termination.