Spain’s La Liga refused to accept the payment of Neymar’s €222 million buyout clause, a league spokesperson confirmed on Thursday, potentially delaying the Brazilian’s world record move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.

“We can confirm that the legal representatives of the player attended La Liga to pay the clause and this has been rejected,” the spokesperson told AFP.

Barcelona announced on Wednesday that they would allow Neymar to leave for PSG if the buyout clause was met in full.

The Ligue 1 outfit’s lawyers arrived in Madrid on Thursday and headed to La Liga’s offices to do just that but the payment was refused.

La Liga president Javier Tebas earlier accused PSG of “financial doping” and suggested that the governing body would not accept payment for Neymar.

However, reports in Spain have stated that La Liga have no legal grounds to reject the PSG’s payment and a request to FIFA to intervene in the matter couldn’t be ruled out.

La Liga is understood to argue that only Spanish clubs have the guaranteed right to buy out a contract plying his trade in Spain’s top flight. However, they would not be able to reject the money if Neymar himself turned up to pay it.

The Brazilian landed in Porto on Wednesday for a medical ahead of joining PSG.

The Ligue 1 club have been mindful of the FFP regulations and have worked to remain in compliance with them.