Barcelona can be punished and even ruled out of the Copa del Rey for irregularly putting the defender Chumi in the first leg of the Round of 16 against Levante. At the time, the Blaugranas, with reserve team, lost by 2 to 1.

According to the newspaper El Mundo, Chumi, who plays for Barcelona B, started the duel last Thursday and was replaced by Clément at the start of the second half. He received a yellow card at the 43rd minute of match.

However, on the eve of the King’s Cup match, Chumi had been suspended by the Spanish Competition Committee for the accumulation of yellow cards by Barcelona B. In these cases, according to article 56.3 of the disciplinary code, the punishment should have been fulfilled also in the main team.

Current four-time champion of the tournament, Barcelona can even be eliminated from the competition. Three seasons ago, their rival Real Madrid suffered the same type of punishment for having irregularly put midfielder Denis Cheryshev. At the time, the Merengues were excluded from the King’s Cup.

This Thursday, Barcelona will welcome Levante in the second leg game of the Round of 16 of the King’s Cup. The Cules need the victory, once they lost in the first leg 2-1.

Barcelona deny that defender Chumi was unable to play against Levante on Thursday. The club is backed by a change in the General Regulations and Disciplinary Code in the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

The new regulation says: “The method of complying with the sanctions imposed as a result of the commission of infractions for the cases in which there are concurrent licenses of those permitted in the General Regulation of the RFEF, will be adjusted to the provisions of this article, however, light penalties will be met in competitions where the offender is using a particular license and those of a serious or very serious nature in any competition, regardless of the license in use.

In this case, Chumi would be able to play for the King’s Cup. The following Sunday, he was out for Barcelona B against Alcoyano because of the accumulation of yellow cards.