The controversy surrounding the registration of Franco Mastantuono as a player for Real Madrid Castilla continues, although everything indicates that he will not play minutes with Álvaro Arbeloa's reserve team, but will be part of the first team, with which he even debuted on the opening day of LaLiga EA Sports 2025/26 against CA Osasuna.

This movement raised suspicions in various sectors, to the point that the option was considered that the rojillos would denounce the merengues for improper alignment. However, this path will not prosper due to the position of the Pamplona team, which has decided to pass on this matter.

UEFA will not allow the same maneuver in the Champions League

However, Real Madrid will not be able to repeat this move in the 2025/26 Champions League. The reason? UEFA's rules are much stricter regarding the registration of players. Article 31 of the regulations of the aforementioned continental competition clearly establishes the difference between list A and list B: the first corresponds to assets of the first team and the second to youth players or members of the reserve team.

  • What does article 31 of the UEFA Regulations say?: "Each club is responsible for submitting to UEFA a list A of players (List A) and a list B of players (List B), duly signed by the club and verified, validated and additionally signed by its association".

To enter list B, a player must have been born after January 1, 2004 and have been eligible to compete with the club for at least two uninterrupted years since turning 15, or three years in total, with a maximum of one loan to a team from the same federation for a period not exceeding one year.

  • What does article 31.12 of the UEFA Regulations say about the registration of players on list B?: "A player may be registered on List B if he was born on or after January 1, 2004 and, since turning 15, has been eligible to play for the club in question for an uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not exceeding one year. Players aged 16 may be registered on List B if they have been registered with the participating club for the previous two years without interruption".

The Mastantuono case and the obligation to go to list A

The problem is that Mastantuono has just landed in Chamartín, so he does not meet the training requirements established by UEFA. This means that the Whites must register him on list A for the European competition, whose deadline ends on September 2.

However, an unexpected debate arises driven by Miguel Galán, a figure known for promoting the complaint against Javier Tebas before the CSD. The president of the Association for Transparency and Democracy in Sport raises whether the federative file in the Royal Spanish Football Federation conditions the registration in list A, that is, whether a player must be registered in the first team to be able to appear in said relationship.

UEFA Regulations vs. RFEF: controversy over Mastantuono's registration

Apparently, this discussion will not go very far. According to sources consulted, the UEFA regulations do not require that the player appear in the first team at the federative level, but only that he be duly registered in the national federation, in accordance with the provisions of FIFA.

Article 30.3 adds that the player must have a federative license and a valid identity document, but it is never mentioned that this license must coincide with the registration in the first team.

Therefore, at the European level, the registration of Franco Mastantuono should not generate controversy. However, in Spain the debate persists: some argue that Real Madrid could have violated article 125 of the General Regulations of the RFEF (concerning sponsoring clubs and subsidiaries, main teams and dependent teams), which would affect competitive equity and the principle of equality between clubs.

In turn, if this interpretation is confirmed, the merengue entity could have incurred improper alignment against CA Osasuna, based on article 148 of the same regulation. Will there be any future legal proceedings in this case? Only time will tell.