La Liga Refuse PSG's €222M Release Clause Payment for Neymar Move

Paris Saint-Germain representatives arrived at the La Liga offices on Thursday to deposit the €222 million needed to release Neymar from his Barcelona contract, only for the organisation to turn the money away.

Aleks Klosok of CNN London (via James Masters of CNN) passed along a statement from the league:

"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. It is all the information we will give so far."

The report also stated the rejection stems from concerns regarding financial fair play regulations.

According to Matt McGinn of AS, La Liga has "complicated proceedings," as "the activation of a release clause is a right that only Spanish clubs are entitled to." 

Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol provided more developments:

Prior to this twist, Barcelona confirmed Wednesday that Neymar wanted to leave the club and that any team wishing to take him would have to pay his buyout amount in full.

In Spanish football, it is obligatory for players to have buyout clauses in their contracts, although the amounts are not paid directly to the football club who employ them but to the LFP. It means La Liga could prevent Neymar's move from going through quickly, which they appear to be keen on.

Sports journalist Lucas Navarrete believes the standpoint taken by La Liga is wrong in this instance:

As noted in the initial report, the LFP president, Javier Tebas, has previously expressed concerns about the nature of the deal and the fact that PSG are backed by the nation-state of Qatar.

Tebas expressed those worries to AS (h/t Dermot Corrigan) and said La Liga would not take the money:

It'll be fascinating to see what happens should this stalemate persist, although if governing bodies like UEFA and FIFA get involved, the transfer could become a messy one. Bryan Swanson of Sky Sports noted the deal may be set for a "FIFA resolution," as a "transfer certificate must be issued for all international deals."

But according to Paul MacInnes of the Guardian, the league "do not have the jurisdiction to" reject the €222 million.

It means the deal, set to be the biggest in the history of football, will almost certainly still go through. Hopes of Neymar making his debut in Saturday's Ligue 1 clash with Amiens seem to be slim, though.