E-Paper
Spanish La Liga to file complaint against Paris Saint-Germain over Neymar
Paris Saint-Germain are rumoured to be weighing up a bid for Barcelona forward Neymar at more than 200 million euros, enough to trigger the 25-year-old’s transfer release clause.
Spain’s football league chief Javier Tebas said he will file a complaint with UEFA for financial fair play breaches against Paris Saint-Germain over their pursuit of Brazilian superstar Neymar.
PSG are rumoured to be weighing up a bid for the Barcelona forward at more than 200 million euros, enough to trigger the 25-year-old’s transfer release clause.
READ | Dani Alves on target as Paris Saint Germain beat AS Monaco to win French Super Cup title
“La Liga will file this complaint because it’s a problem for La Liga’s competitiveness. Today it’s happened to Barca, tomorrow it could happen to Real Madrid, it’s happened to Atletico Madrid,” Tebas, the La Liga chairman, told Mundo Deportivo.
Should PSG bid, and then pay, the 222 million euros needed to prise Neymar from the Catalan capital, they would struggle to meet UEFA’s financial fair play conditions that limit a team to losses of no more than 30 million euros over a three-year cycle.
And that is despite a mega-money sponsorship deal with the Qatar tourism board.
READ | Samir Nasri set to leave Manchester City, Kelechi Iheanacho close to Leicester move
According to Tebas, “no-one believes” the commercial revenue figures presented by PSG to justify their spending.
“PSG cannot have figures in which PSG’s commercial rights exceed those of Real Madrid and Barcelona,” said Tebas.
“No-one believes that. We’ve carried out economic studies and it’s impossible.
“It means that the Qatari state is injecting money and that violates UEFA’s financial fair play rules and the European Union’s norms of economic competition, and we’re going to file a complaint.”
READ | Manchester City beat Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Nashville friendly
In 2014, PSG were fined 60 million euros and handed transfer spending restrictions by UEFA for breaching financial fair play rules.
UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) has also stated that PSG’s 200 million euros a year image rights contract with the Qatari tourist board is inflated and double its “true value”.
PSG are owned by Oryx Qatar Sports Investments.
