A Spanish court on Friday granted LaLiga strugglers Getafe a potential lifeline by partially accepting their appeal against a ban on registering new players for a salary cap breach.
The Madrid club fell afoul of LaLiga's rules on spending and wages after sending Nigerian midfielder Christantus Uche to Premier League side Crystal Palace earlier this season on loan with an option to buy.
The move cleared financial space for Getafe to register players but LaLiga was unhappy with the way the club valued Uche and slashed Getafe's salary limit.
The revision prevented the club, which sits one point above the relegation zone with the January transfer window about to close, from registering new players.
Getafe challenged the rulings, by LaLiga and the Spanish football federation (RFEF), calling them "an abuse of dominant position" under EU competition law.
A Madrid commercial court partially accepted Getafe's request and "orders that the registration window for Getafe remain open until LaLiga and the RFEF can formally object".
LaLiga said in a statement that it had "the fullest respect for judicial rulings" but expressed "its disagreement" with the provisional measure.
A registration row dominated Spanish football headlines last season after Barcelona star Dani Olmo was briefly prevented from playing amid the club's financial troubles.
Spain's sports council intervened and granted permission to Olmo on a temporary basis.