*Club also
demand he returns a bonus received for renewing contract
• Neymar
recently criticised Barça board, saying ‘they should not be there’
Barcelona
have announced that they intend to sue Neymar for breach of contract following
his departure to Paris St- Germain. The Catalan club are demanding €8.5m
(£7.8m) in damages, plus the return of an undisclosed bonus paid to the player
having renewed his contract at the club last summer, and a further 10% of that
amount in interest. They have insisted that PSG take responsibility for payment
in the event that the player cannot do so.
Neymar: how
the record-breaking €222m move to PSG unfolded
Read more
Barcelona
revealed that they began legal action by presenting a demand at court in
Barcelona on August 11 and announced that they have also formally brought the
case to the attention of the Spanish Football Federation so that it can be
passed on to the French Football Federation and to Fifa. The announcement comes
after Neymar criticised Barcelona’s board at the weekend, insisting that he was
not happy with them and that they “should not be there” at the Camp Nou.
In a
statement, Barcelona insist that the player must repay the bonus he was given
having signed his new deal because he unilaterally broke that deal by signing
for PSG “a few months later”. That contract ran until 2021 and included a
unilateral buyout clause of €222m, which the French club paid in full.
Barcelona have not revealed the amount paid which they now want returned, with
interest.
For his
part, Neymar has been demanding another bonus related to his contract renewal
worth a reported €26m. That “loyalty” payment has been the focus of a stand-off
between Neymar and his former club, with Barcelona initially depositing the
amount with a notary rather than paying it directly given the risk of him
walking away. They have now recuperated that money, preventing it from reaching
the player. Barcelona have not confirmed whether that amount is the same as the
original amount they paid and now want returned.
Neymar’s
camp argued that the second bonus was payable after 31 July, at which point he
was still a Barcelona player and had seen out the first year of his new deal.
The club insist that Neymar is in breach of contract having departed and not
only intend to keep that amount but have now sued for the return of the first
bonus payment as they believe that the decision was taken before the end of
July, even though the clause was not triggered to enable him to go to France
until August 3.
“Barcelona
have sent the labour demand made against Neymar Jr. at court [the Jutjat
Social] on August 11 to the Real Federación Espanola de Fútbol, so that they
can take it to the French Football Federation and FIFA, to all legal ends,” a
statement read. “The club demands that Paris Saint Germain assumes
[responsibility for] the payments of any amounts in the event that the player
cannot do so.
“Barcelona
have taken this action in defence of its interests. [T]hat defence will be
carried out according to established procedure at the appropriate institutions,
without at any time entering into any dialectical battles with the player.”
0 Comments