La Liga chief Javier Tebas continued to criticise Brazilian striker Neymar’s world-record transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, a day after the move was sealed.
Neymar signed a five-year contract with the French club on Thursday after breaking his contract with Barcelona by paying his own €222 million (Rs 1,680 crore) buyout clause.
La Liga had earlier refused to accept the payment of the buyout clause from PSG, saying that the French club, which is owned by Oryx Qatar Sports Investments, infringes transfer rules and laws.
“If this offer had come from Manchester United we wouldn’t have anything to say,” Tebas told radio channel RAC1 on Friday. “Because United is not a financially doping club. On the other hand, PSG is a club-state.”
Tebas has been an outspoken critic of PSG’s move to snatch one of the Spanish league’s biggest stars. He believes the astronomical sums being spent by the French giants, including a reported €30 million salary after tax for Neymar, makes it impossible for them to comply with financial fair play regulations.
Neymar’s transfer fee is more than double the previous world record set by Manchester United’s capture of Paul Pogba from Juventus last year for €105 million, leaving many commentators aghast at the rampant inflation in football transfer fees.
There is also scepticism at the role played by PSG’s owners Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) at a time of political crisis for the energy-rich state which has been boycotted by its Gulf neighbours in recent months and will play host to the World Cup in 2022. Spanish newspaper El Mundo had also described the move as a “state signing.”
With inputs from AFP.
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