Technoglitch
Core Member
Neymar will play for Brazil at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics but will skip the Copa America, Barcelona said Wednesday.
The news was announced by the Catalan club after it trounced Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 in the Spanish league, with Neymar netting one of the goals to end the forward’s five-game scoreless run.
Neymar had said he wanted to play in both tournaments and the Brazilian soccer confederation had asked for his release. But Barcelona didn’t want to lose the striker for so long and feared that his participation in both events could affect his preparations for next season.
The confederation and the club had been in talks for several months before finally reaching a deal.
“FC Barcelona expresses its gratitude to the Brazilian Football Confederation and its president Marco Polo del Nero for accepting the Club’s proposal for Neymar Jr to only play at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer, and not at the Copa America in the United States,” Barcelona said in a statement.
Clubs are not obliged by FIFA to release players for the Olympics, but had to do so for the Copa America Centenario in the United States.
Rio Olympics 2016: Brazil's Neymar to skip Copa America for Olympics - The Hindu
The news was announced by the Catalan club after it trounced Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 in the Spanish league, with Neymar netting one of the goals to end the forward’s five-game scoreless run.
Neymar had said he wanted to play in both tournaments and the Brazilian soccer confederation had asked for his release. But Barcelona didn’t want to lose the striker for so long and feared that his participation in both events could affect his preparations for next season.
The confederation and the club had been in talks for several months before finally reaching a deal.
“FC Barcelona expresses its gratitude to the Brazilian Football Confederation and its president Marco Polo del Nero for accepting the Club’s proposal for Neymar Jr to only play at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer, and not at the Copa America in the United States,” Barcelona said in a statement.
Clubs are not obliged by FIFA to release players for the Olympics, but had to do so for the Copa America Centenario in the United States.
Rio Olympics 2016: Brazil's Neymar to skip Copa America for Olympics - The Hindu
