Franco Mastantuono made his debut with Real Madrid in the narrow victory against Osasuna (1-0). The Argentine came on in the 68th minute, replacing Brahim Díaz, and had a shot on goal that was blocked by goalkeeper Sergio Herrera. The '30' played with the reserve team registration, and Osasuna has an argument to claim the three points due to improper alignment.
The 'merengue' club did not want to use up its last spot of the 25 available to register players in the first team, in case it can incorporate another player in this summer market. For this reason, it registered Mastantuono in Castilla.
Was there really an improper alignment with Franco Mastantuono?
However, the white team would be violating Article 108, literal 3, of the General Regulations of the RFEF, which establishes that “the relationship of affiliation or dependence may not serve as an instrument to evade the spirit of the regulatory provisions nor for any purpose other than that which is proper and specific to that class of situations.”
Miguel Galán, president of the National Center for Football Coaches Training (CENAFE), clarifies that the inclusion of a player in the list of called-up and alignable players does not constitute an infraction. This, as long as their federative license is in force.
The problem is that Franco was registered with a Castilla registration, but he will always play with the first team. In that sense, it can be alleged "fraud of law, malice or bad faith, in particular in order to evade compliance with a specific requirement demanded by the General Regulations to obtain the registration and federative license for competitions of national scope.
Osasuna will have 24 hours to claim the improper alignment of Mastantuono
Osasuna has just added its first defeat in LaLiga EA Sports 24/25, but this may take another course if it makes a claim in the next 24 hours before the RFEF. However, the Navarre team would not be willing to present the claim in a timely manner.
The ruling could be in favor of Real Madrid as long as it demonstrates that the registration in the reserve team complies with the formal requirements and licenses and that it is not to evade the spirit of the rule, which is to play in the reserve teams and then gradually move up.
The regulations for registering players from the reserve team indicate that players under 23 years of age can be registered. The 'rojillos', in 2019, registered the Ecuadorian Pervis Estupiñán, who was 21 years old and played 26 games. It should be noted that the left-back never played in the reserve team and that measure was used by Osasuna so that the salary cap would be computed to a lesser extent.
Osasuna claimed the alignment of Iñigo Martínez in the 24/25 season
It would not be the first time that Osasuna makes a claim for improper alignment, it already did so with Barça in the 24/25 season, when it alleged that the blaugrana club was committing an infraction in the commitment for the 27th round by using Iñigo Martínez, since the Basque played just after being de-called from the Spanish national team due to physical discomfort.
Then, the RFEF gave the reason to Barça. Now, the Navarre team has the opportunity to go to the Federation to look for the first three points of the season, before playing its first game as a local against Valencia next Sunday, August 24.