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LIONEL Messi’s father and representative Jorge has written to the Spanish league to reiterate that he is not obliged to pay his €700 million buyout clause in order to unilaterally depart Barcelona this summer.

The league immediately replied by reiterating its position, describing Messi Sr’s claims of lacking context and going against the wording of the contract, as the stand-off over his son’s future continues.

In a letter addressed to the league president Javier Tebas and made public on Friday afternoon, Messi’s father responded to the league’s statement from five days ago in which they announced that Messi’s contract at Barcelona remains valid and subject to a €700 million release clause; a figure which could not be assumed by the player or the clubs interested in signing him, including Manchester City.

In the letter, Messi’s father dismisses the league’s conclusion and questions whether they have even seen the correct contract and notes that they are an interested party.

He describes the league’s conclusion as “a clear error” and supports his claim that the clause is not applicable from the end of the 2019-2020 season by directly quoting from the contract.

That clause, he writes, states: “This indemnity will not apply when the player’s decision to unilaterally rescind the contract is effective from the end of the 2019-2020 season.”

The letter does not, though, announce that Leo Messi will depart, nor repeat that he remains determined to do so.

“As the representative of professional football player Lionel Andres Messi and in response to the statement relating to the player’s contractual situation published by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional on August 30, 2020, Jorge Horacio Messi states that, quite apart from your obvious interest given the role that said institution (La Liga) has in the defence of its associates (the football clubs): “First, we do not know what contract you have analysed and on what grounds you conclude that there is a recission clause applicable in the case of him deciding to unilaterally end his contract from the end of the 2019-20 season.

“Second, that doing so (reaching that conclusion) is founded upon a clear error on your part. As clause 8.2.3.6 of the contract signed between the club and the player explicitly says: “This indemnity will not apply when the player’s decision to unilaterally rescind the contract is effective from the end of the 2019-2020 season.” [Signed] Jorge H Messi.” – The Guardian