Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 8y

Barcelona delay Neymar contract presentation due to Olympics

Barcelona have postponed the official signing of Neymar's new contract but the club say the delay is for timetabling reasons and the documents have already been signed.

After many months of speculation about a potential move to Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United or Real Madrid, on July 1 Barca announced that Neymar had signed a contract extension tying him to the club until 2021.

The club statement containing the news said that the Brazil star would visit the Catalan capital on July 15 for a formal presentation, before he headed to Rio de Janeiro to represent his country at this summer's Olympic Games.

That visit will now not take place, with Neymar already having started his preparations for the Olympic football tournament. Blaugrana board spokesperson Josep Vives told AS that all the travelling would not make sense but an event would be held after the tournament.

"We do not want the player to make a return journey in such a short space of time, when he needs to be back in his country on Monday," Vives said. "The event we will do later, the documents are already signed."

Last week also saw Audiencia Nacional Judge Jose de la Mata reject a criminal case brought by prosecutors on behalf by third-party investors DIS -- who claim they had been cut out of the controversial deal which brought Neymar to Barca from Santos back in summer 2013.

Audiencia Nacional chief prosecutor Javier Zaragoza told news Agency EFE that he did not agree with the De la Mata's decision and an appeal is being prepared.

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