May be of interest.
The law could be on Messi's side
Barcelona Argentine might get his way
EL MUNDO
Messi believes his release clause is no longer valid
LaLiga warn Messi that he must pay his release clause to leave Barcelona
The ongoing dispute between Josep Maria Bartomeu and Leo Messi rolls on and, although Barcelona maintain that the player would have to pay his release clause to leave the club, the law could be in the Argentine's favour.
The burofax sent by Messi to Barcelona claims that his contractual agreement with the club allows him to leave at zero cost, which is being denied by the Catalan club as well as
LaLiga.
However, Juan Ramon Liebana, a professor of law at University of La Rioja (UNIR) and member of the Arbitration Court of La Rioja, believes Messi will win the case.
Barcelona allege that there was a June 10 deadline for Messi to exercise that right of termination but, as the Argentine did not do so, the club considers the player to have renewed until June 30, 2021, while the player's lawyers rely on the fact that COVID-19 delayed all competitions, leaving the termination period open.
"That was for a transfer and not for rescinding the contract," Liebana told EFE, regarding the June 10 deadline.
According to Liebana, if the contract specifically states that date, Barcelona would be in the right but, if not, "it would enter the realm of interpretation, where Leo Messi will win for various reasons," he insists.
"Leo Messi's lawyers recall that the last competition that the Blaugrana played in, the Champions League, ended on August 23, so they assure that they are within time to have exercised the unilateral termination period of the contract," he explains.
Liebana believes that the clause in Messi's contract does not explicitly state a particular date of expiration but rather "within a period of X days" which would play in the Argentine's favour.
Furthermore, Liebana indicated that, in such a situation, Article 1281 of the Spanish Civil Code should be applied, which establishes that "if the words of the contract appear to be contrary to the evident intention of the relevant parties, the intention of the one under contract prevails."
"If the account offered by Leo Messi's lawyers, in which they maintain that the intention of both parties was to give a certain margin from the end of the Champions League to decide [his future] is true, the Argentine is right on this matter," he stated.
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