Spain’s La Liga rejects payment of Neymar’s $263m buy-out clause

Madrid, Aug 3 (IANS) The Spanish pro football league La Liga on Thursday rejected the payment of Barcelona star forward Neymar's buy-out clause.

Four representatives of the Brazilian player, including his lawyer, arrived at La Liga's headquarters in Madrid with a cheque worth the 222 million euros ($263 million) required to terminate Neymar's contract with the Catalan club, reports Efe.

"We can confirm that the lawyers of the player (Neymar) have come to La Liga to deposit the clause and that it has been rejected," read a La Liga statement to BBC Sport.

The league said it had dismissed the release fee's payment because it deemed it unlikely that Paris Saint-German, Neymar's future team, could finance the move without violating UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations.

"It's financial doping, without a shadow of a doubt," La Liga head Javier Tebas had said on Wednesday in an interview with Spanish sports daily AS.

Tebas was referring to Qatar's alleged financial propping-up of PSG, which would allow the Parisian side to unfairly compete with non-state-backed teams.

In Spain, unlike other major leagues, players must deposit their own buy-out clause themselves with La Liga, instead of the purchasing club directly paying the amount. La Liga then transfers the money to the selling team.