The debut that sparked controversy

The excitement around Franco Mastantuono, the 18-year-old Argentine talent, didn’t last long before turning into a regulatory storm. The youngster made his debut on Tuesday in the 67th minute against Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabéu, but his registration as a Castilla (B team) player had already raised suspicions.

The first to publicly call it out was Miguel Galán, president of CENAFE, who posted on X that Madrid had committed an ineligible lineup. In his view, the club acted with “manifest bad faith” by registering the Argentine with a B team number in order to bypass the first-team squad number restrictions.

Galán’s argument

Galán argues that simply naming a player in the squad list is not enough for an infraction—but once Mastantuono stepped on the pitch, the violation became real. Although the youngster holds a valid license, Galán points to Article 125 of the RFEF General Regulations, which prohibits the use of filial registration to circumvent the rules.

He highlights the contradiction of presenting Mastantuono as a first-team signing while officially registering him with the reserves: “Real Madrid decided to take the risk of committing an ineligible lineup (…) the registration was carried out with manifest bad faith,” Galán stated.

What comes next?

According to Galán, Osasuna has 24 hours after the match to file a formal complaint. For now, the club and the Spanish Federation have remained silent, but media pressure is growing. Fans are split between those defending Madrid’s maneuver and those demanding punishment.

What’s certain is that Mastantuono’s first steps in a Madrid shirt not only showed glimpses of talent but also unleashed a regulatory storm that may now move to the Federation offices.