Lawyer Juan Branco has filed a complaint on behalf of a group of Barcelona fans to try and prevent Paris Saint-Germain from signing Lionel Messi.
Over the course of the last seven days, the entire landscape of world football has changed dramatically. One of the primary reasons for that, of course, is the impending departure of Lionel Messi from the Nou Camp – a decision that was made last week.
Barca seemingly feel as if they were forced into the move as La Liga’s financial restrictions ensured they wouldn’t be able to afford to sign the Argentine legend to a new contract.
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Off the back of that, moneybags PSG have moved quickly in order to try and secure a sensational deal for the 34-year-old. The signing would add Messi to an already-phenomenal attacking line-up that features Brazilian star Neymar and Real Madrid target Kylian Mbappe.
However, a protest by Barca supporters could serve as a significant roadblock.
“Sport report a group of Barcelona fans are filing a complaint with the European Commission to stop PSG signing Messi. Lawyer Juan Branco has filed with the Paris Court of Appeals on behalf of the fans. The idea of the case is presumably related to unfair competition within EU.
“The legal papers include this statement: ‘PSG’s ratios in terms of ‘financial fair play’ are worse than those of FC Barcelona. In the 2019/20 season the ratio between salaries and income of the Parisian team was 99%, while that of Barça was 54%’.”
“So, again presumably, their case is that this represents unfair competition in EU because Barcelona are faced with La Liga FFP constraints which don’t apply via Ligue 1 to PSG.”
Barcelona as a club are unlikely to get behind it, but if they did, it could create quite the stand-off between the European giants.
Featured image credit: Getty
