MADRID, Spain - Spain's La Liga refused to accept the payment of Neymar's 222 million euro ($260 million) buyout clause, a league spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
"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.
Neymar was expected to arrive in Paris on Thursday to finalise the world record move from Barcelona, which will earn him around 30 million euros ($35.5 million) a year.
The summer's longest-running transfer saga - which this week saw the 25-year-old tracked from the United States to China to the Middle East, back to Barcelona to say goodbye before a swift detour to Portugal's FC Porto where he was thought to have undergone a medical - was meant to end in the French capital. However, La Liga rejecting the transfer sum could potentially delay the Brazilian's move.
The rules governing transfers dictate that that buyout clause fees can be paid to either the club or the league if the two clubs cannot come to an agreement.
However, La Liga's refusal to accept the fee will not come as a surprise after comments made by La Liga president Javier Tebas on Wednesday.
Tebas has threatened not to accept PSG's money over what he perceives as a failure on the French side's part to comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules (FFP).
"We will not accept this money from a club like PSG," Tebas told Madrid sports daily AS. "Especially when this club is infringing rules and laws."
Barcelona have also threatened to report PSG to UEFA over any potential breach of FFP.
Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for making a loss of more than 30 million euros over a three-year period.
PSG have already been fined and saw their Champions League squad limited by UEFA for breaches of FFP in 2014.
Prising Neymar from the grip of Barca would truly announce PSG's presence as a contender for the likes of Barca, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to fear.
Neymar has formed one of the deadliest strike partnerships in football history with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez over the past three seasons.
Together they have won two La Liga titles, a Champions League and three Spanish Cups, whilst Neymar has scored 105 goals and provided 80 assists in just 186 games.