Spanish La Liga champions Barcelona has been fined €300 after being found guilty of tapping up Antoine Griezmann while he was an Atletico Madrid player.
Barcelona signed Griezmann from rivals Athletico Madrid back in July after they triggered his £108m release clause, but the Wanda Metropolitano outfit believed the transfer has been agreed between the player and Barcelona before then.
Athletico decided to press charges against Barcelona and the French International had agreed to the transfer before July 1 – when his release clause was £180m.
“Atlético de Madrid believes that the amount deposited is insufficient to meet [Griezmann’s] buy-out clause, since it is obvious that the player committed to FC Barcelona before the aforementioned clause was reduced from 200 to 120 million euros,” the club said in a statement.
“Atlético de Madrid believes that the termination of the contract occurred before the end of last season due to events, acts and demonstrations carried out by the player and that is why the club has already started the procedures it considers appropriate for the defense of its legitimate rights and interests.”
After much deliberation, the Catalan giants were fined €300 (£260) for tapping up on the player.
Griezmann has featured in all Barcelona league games so far and scored three goals in the process.
