After Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu said last week that Brazilian superstar Neymar couldn't play in the Copa America, clearing him only to play for the nation in the Olympics, the Brazilian soccer federation received official word on Friday, according to Globo.
Here's the press release from Brazil:
The Brazilian Football Confederation received on the afternoon of Friday (8/4) a letter signed by the president of FC. Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, making clear the position of the club on the participation of the athlete Neymar Jr. in the competitions that the Brazilian team will compete in the coming months: the Copa America Centenario and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The club accepts to release the player for only one of the competitions.
The release goes on to say that the player has stated that he wants to play in both and that the federation will make every effort to count on Neymar for both. So it looks like a little hardball between Barca and Brazil is just kicking into gear.
In time we will learn the who is the victor, but it's hard to envision Brazil convincing Barcelona to let him play in two competitions.
