La Liga President Accuses PSG of Economic Cheating in Formal Complaint to UEFA
La Liga president Javier Tebas continues to accuse Paris Saint-Germain of 'economic cheating' in the wake of the French side's €222m capture of Barcelona superstar Neymar in the summer, against the will of the league, who initially refused to accept payment of the buyout clause.
A report published by L'Equipe this week carried details of Tebas filing a 44-page complaint to UEFA on August 22, as well as comments from the Spanish league chief.
Premier League club Manchester City, who spent in excess of £200m on five new players during the summer, have also not escaped Tebas' radar. Yet PSG are the focus of what seems to be verging on a vendetta, after his league lost one of its most marketable assets.
"We have seen that PSG and Manchester City have invested more than any other club in the last five years," Tebas is quoted as saying.
"Their real income cannot justify these investments so they have fictitious sponsors, related to the State, with amounts that are bigger than those of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester United," he added.
"The revenues are directly or indirectly related to the Qatari state and PSG are continuing to cheat economically.
"If we discover that they are guilty, they should not compete in the Champions League."
The revelation about the document from La Liga sent to UEFA yielded a quick response from the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) in France and its president Nathalie Boy de la Tour, who wrote her own letter to UEFA president Aleksandar Ceferin to counter Tebas.
Those comments, which particularly addressed the public nature and the provocative language of Tebas' attack, were also published by L'Equipe.
"These statements constitute an interference in the operation of the Ligue de Football Professionnel which is now detrimental to Paris Saint-Germain and in turn to the entire Ligue 1," Boy de la Tour wrote to the UEFA chief.
"In the context of the ongoing formal investigation (concerning PSG in the context of financial fair play), I would therefore be grateful if you would remind La Liga of its obligation of reserve vis-à-vis the French professional clubs and at least to use a level of dignified language, not detrimental to the image that our sport has to convey."
