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AFP
Messi is six times Ballon d’Or and has won the Champions League four times with Barca
Lionel Messi’s € 700m release clause still stands, La Liga judge.
Lionel Messi, 33, informed the club on Tuesday that he wanted to leave and did not attend a pre-season medical examination on Sunday.
La Pulga intends to invoke clause N.24 of its contract, which allows it to leave freely each summer but on the condition of invoking it before June 10.
FC Barcelona claim that the deadline for doing so has expired.
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La Liga, Spain’s top competition, are now declaring that they will not deregister the player if the clause is not respected.
“In accordance with the applicable rule, La Liga will not approve a request to deregister a player with the Spanish Football Federation, unless the amount provided for in the release clause has been paid”, underlines the body in a statement.
They will argue that this date, in principle the end of the season, is no longer relevant after the delays due to the coronavirus which resulted in the extension of the season and the fact that the team played until August .
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