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La Liga claim they will block Neymar's transfer from Barcelona to PSG as they accuse French giants of 'financial doping'

LFP president Javier Tebas says he will report the Qatari-owned club to Uefa over a possible financial fair play breach

Evan Bartlett
Wednesday 02 August 2017 10:03 BST
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Neymar missed Barcelona training on Wednesday morning as his move to PSG moved closer
Neymar missed Barcelona training on Wednesday morning as his move to PSG moved closer (AFP/Getty)

La Liga say they will attempt to block Neymar's transfer to PSG, claiming that their bid of €220m (£198m) for the Barcelona forward is in breach of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

The Brazilian missed training on Wednesday morning and said goodbye to his Barca teammates as his blockbuster move drew nearer.

While PSG have met Neymar's release clause with their world record bid, it now appears there may be one final hurdle for the French giants to navigate.

Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) president Javier Tebas has accused PSG of "financial doping", claiming the club has raised money for the Neymar transfer direct from its Qatari owners rather than through standalone profits.

When asked whether it was embarrassing for La Liga to be stripped of one of its most recognisable assets, Tebas claimed the league would "not accept" the money from PSG.

"The problem is not that LaLiga is a great championship, which is what it is," Tebas told AS.

"The problem is that Neymar is being taken by a financially-doped team that competes with an advantage.

"The problem is the state-backed clubs, they need to be stopped."

As well as the possible FFP breach, Tebas claimed earlier this week that the player's 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona is still subject to legal wrangling.

"Even if PSG do not meet [Neymar's] release clause we are going to report them [to Uefa]," Tebas told the Catalan newspaper Sport on Tuesday.

"We have already warned the president of Paris Saint-Germain that we would do so and we see that PSG's policy has continued in the same manner.

"They cannot invent some numbers where their commercial rights exceed those of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Nobody believes that."

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