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Neymar Complaint over Unpaid Barcelona Bonus Won't Result in FIFA Action
February 23, 2018
FIFA have thrown out a complaint made by Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar in which the Brazilian suggested he was owed £23 million by former club Barcelona.
As noted by Bryan Swanson of Sky Sports News, "the world governing body has closed an investigation after legal action was taken elsewhere over the same complaint."
Per the Press Association (h/t Sky Sports), Neymar believed he had fulfilled the requirements for a loyalty bonus during his time at Barca, and after the La Liga side decided against paying the sum, he wanted his former team expelled from the UEFA Champions League.
The following statement was provided to Sky Sports News from a FIFA representative on the matter:
"After having been made aware that, apparently, the same matter had been submitted in parallel before different jurisdictions, by the same party, the FIFA administration informed the parties to the dispute that, based on the long-standing and well-established jurisprudence of FIFA's deciding bodies, it did not seem to be in a position to continue with the investigation of the affair.
"The proceedings were therefore closed for formal reasons."
Per journalist Samuel Marsden, any further developments over the complaint from Neymar will now be in the hands of Spanish authorities:
Neymar signed a new contract with Barcelona in 2016 up until 2021, and as reported by Dom Farrell of Goal, while he moved to PSG ahead of the current campaign, he is said to believe he is still entitled to the renewal bonus.
As noted in Swanson's report, Barcelona spokesman Josep Vives has previously suggested three criteria needed to be fulfilled before Neymar qualified for the bonus in question, although none of those were met.
Neymar's switch to Paris was for a world-record sum, as the Ligue 1 giants triggered the clause in his Barcelona contract worth £198 million. Per Swanson, UEFA have opened an investigation into PSG's spending during the window and whether they breached financial fair play regulations.
Since the move, Neymar has performed incredibly for PSG and has often made French football look a little too easy at times:
There's still plenty of challenges ahead for Neymar in 2017-18, as the forward will be expected to spearhead PSG's charge for a domestic treble.
In the UEFA Champions League, there'll also be pressure on the Brazilian to inspire a fightback against Real Madrid, with the Parisians 3-1 down from the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. Neymar was ineffective in the first meeting between the two sides.
In recent weeks, there has also been speculation linking the forward with a move to Madrid at the end of the season. According to Miguel Delaney of The Independent, Los Blancos will swoop to sign the Brazilian in the summer.