Fact Checked by Sign up to Get FREE Steroids, SARMS, Peptides eBooks
La Liga president Javier Tebas has accused Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City of "financial doping".
Last month, PSG shattered the world transfer record when they activated the buy-out clause of Brazilian professional footballer Neymar and paid £198m to buy the Brazilian from Barcelona, a payment which La Liga initially refused to accept.
The Ligue 1 club has also provided its consent for a season-long loan for Kylian Mbappe that contains an obligation to buy the forward for £165m in 2018. The mammoth spending spree has prompted UEFA, the world governing body of European Football, to initiate an investigation into the transfer dealings of PSG with regards to Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The La Liga president also took aim at Manchester City, who had spent huge sums to establish themselves as one of premier sides in European football even since purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. Speaking at the SoccerEx Convention in Manchester, Tebas remarked this is when football clubs have a competitive advantage due to income not coming from the clubs themselves. The La Liga president added Manchester City and Paris Saint-German recently and Chelsea before them have money that has not been created by them and have been able to get an advantage through this. Tebas added Manchester City with all this oil money will take all these players and we need to protect ourselves. Tebas went on to remark that Manchester City have paid out nearly a thousand million on players and PSG £950m in the last few years.
Tebas claims clubs with mega-rich owners have an unfair advantage over their rivals. He commented we have seen the accounts of these clubs for the past five years, seeing income from gate tickets, TV rights, and commercial income. Tebas said this is publicly available data and added we have the comparison with Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United. Tebas said we know these clubs fight to become the best brand in world. We carried out this study of the accounts - income streams, sponsorship et cetera. PSG has a lot more from sponsorship than Manchester United. Tebas went on to remark that is impossible and it is financial doping. The La Liga president said there is nothing like he does not like PSG and added he would not have gone to the courts because this is not financial doping if Neymar had gone to Manchester United and added he would have thought maybe they have the money to buy this player.
In a letter to UEFA on August 22, La Liga complained against PSG and City and called for an investigation into both clubs for violation of financial fair play (FFP) regulations. UEFA later clarified that City were not under investigation and termed any reports stating otherwise "unsubstantiated".
Under FFP rules, clubs are required to more or less break even over a period of three years. Neymar will be paid £515,000 per week by PSG over the course of his five-year contract that could take the total cost of the Brazilian to £500m. One of the crown jewels in world football, Neymar is a commercial force and neither La Liga nor Barcelona are happy that he was lured away against their will.
