Since Hansi Flick's arrival at FC Barcelona, one of his primary goals has been to instill discipline in the locker room, especially concerning players’ punctuality.
Last season, any player late to training or activation sessions on matchdays was punished by being removed from the starting lineups. For example, Jules Kounde experienced this multiple times, and Inaki Pena lost his spot on the team during the Spanish Super Cup. This term, Raphinha and Marcus Rashford faced similar penalties.
However, according to RAC1, there has been a notable change in how lateness is dealt with in the dressing room. For Flick, matchday is sacred, with several scheduled moments — activation sessions, tactical talks — and even a few seconds late is seen as a lack of respect towards teammates.
Until October 2025, lateness was punished on the pitch by removing the player from the starting lineup. But players started feeling uncomfortable with this form of punishment. When a regular starter suddenly appeared on the bench, the reasons quickly became public, creating tension and criticism that performance should be the deciding factor, not punctuality alone.
Now, late arrivals are punished with financial fines, as revealed by Pedri and Ferran Torres in a recent interview, with penalties reaching up to €40,000.
Internal discussions played a significant role in this policy change. In October, rumors circulated that Lamine Yamal started against PSG despite being late, and that Barcelona sporting director Deco intervened to soften Flick’s stance. Flick dismissed the story as nonsense, but conversations behind the scenes continued.
Team captains spoke with Flick and Deco, suggesting it might be time to adjust the approach. The director proposed reconsidering the system. Flick, known for being demanding but open to dialogue, listened. The conclusion was clear: maintain discipline but change the method.
Since around October, sporting punishments for lateness have been replaced by financial penalties. The message remains firm — punctuality is non-negotiable, but the consequence now impacts players’ wallets instead of their starting lineup.
