Paris Saint-Germain's signing of Lionel Messi last year will be heard in front of the General Court of the European Union following allegations of unfairness from a Barcelona-supporting lawyer.
Messi joined PSG on a two-year contract a year ago from Barcelona as a free agent. The sensational move played out after the Catalan giants were unable to register the Argentine superstar with a new contract due to strict Financial Fair Play compliance laws by La Liga.
The arrival of Messi at the Parc des Princes came in a busy summer, which also saw the signings of high-profile signings Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nuno Mendes, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi.
Juan Branco, a lawyer representing a group of French-based members of the Catalan club, has denounced the lack of equal conditions between different nations due to tax regulations, salary limitations and the application of Financial Fair Play.
The club's argument is that there is an inherent lack of fairness in European football due to discrepancies within each nation regarding the above issues. They insist that Messi's switch to the French capital was indicative of a lack of consistency between different nations and leagues, and have called on Barca president Joan Laporta to support their campaign.
Branco has explained the group's move: "We want to clean up European professional football. I know it sounds ambitious, but we would like Laporta and his board to join their members, who have made this complaint."
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Branco also outlined how the General Court is the only institution at European level that can force the European Commission to introduce a change in the rules of European football, as "UEFA has not managed to impose harmonisation" between leagues.
The group, led by Branco, believe that if the General Court rule in their favour this could lead to repercussions for French football and, for this specific example, for PSG. The move comes as Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has blasted Barcelona's financial gymnastics and confirmed that UEFA is set to investigate the club's controversial dealings.
Al-Khelaifi, whose own state-run club are regularly criticised for being backed by the Qatar Sports Investments fund, has now gone on the record to condemn Barcelona and announced that UEFA - for whom he's the Executive Committee chairman - will probe their ongoing ploy.
"Is this fair? No, it's not fair... Is it legal? I'm not sure,' the PSG chief, who's also chairman of Qatari broadcaster beIN Media Group, told Politico. "If they allow them, others will do the same. UEFA of course have their own [financial] regulations. For sure they're going to look at everything."
