Manchester, England • The head of the Spanish soccer league used a crude analogy Wednesday to intensify his criticism of spending by Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain.
The French club broke soccer’s transfer record by buying Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($262 million), denying La Liga as one of the game’s hottest talents.
Spanish league president Javier Tebas, who says he believes PSG could only avoid breaching UEFA Financial Fair Play rules by relying on inflated sponsorships from Qatar, likened the French team to someone who relieves themselves in a swimming pool.
“They are laughing at the system,” Tebas said of PSG through a translator at the SoccerEx convention on Wednesday. “We can’t accept this.”
UEFA opened an investigation into PSG’s spending last week, with particular scrutiny of Kylian Mbappe’s transfer from Monaco that delays another costly outlay on top of Neymar. Mbappe has only joined on loan, but there’s already a plan to sign on a permanent deal next year that will cost PSG 180 million euros ($216 million).
When Mbappe was presented in Paris on Wednesday, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi faced questions about the structure of the deal.
“We have nothing to hide,” Al-Khelaifi said before coyly adding: “I can’t speak about all the details. We’ve done everything within the rules.”
And in a message to Tebas, Al-Khelaifi said: “If someone’s angry, that’s not my problem.”
Over in Manchester around the same time, Tebas was asked whether PSG’s ownership from energy-rich Qatar could help to prize Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi away from Spanish clubs, like Neymar.
“Let’s see,” Tebas said. “Those players have even higher release clauses. But my friend Nasser Al-Khelaifi just does this (motioning the opening a gas valve) and he makes it.”