Messi carries buyout clause of $834 million

MADRID — If a rival soccer team were to pay Lionel Messi’s $834 million buyout clause, Barcelona could potentially buy nine of the 20 most expensive teams in the world.

Or it would have enough to buy every player in Major League Soccer at the same time.

It could even pay for 5 million Barcelona jerseys.

The likelihood of anyone triggering the clause seems remote, especially considering that it wouldn’t guarantee that the goal-scoring great would go anyway. But after Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona a record 222 million euros ($264 million) for Neymar, the team is clearly trying to scare off any potential candidates.

Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu said the club decided to more than double Messi’s original clause of 300 million euros ($358 million) because of what happened with Neymar.

MLS: Utah’s professional soccer team, Real Salt Lake, has saved about $5 million over the last five years after its owner quietly persuaded the county to cut the team’s stadium property tax assessment by about half.

Rio Tinto Stadium’s original assessed value was $98.1 million in 2011, but dropped to $56.7 million after the county’s reduction in 2012, The Salt Lake Tribune reported

FIFA: The former president of Colombia’s soccer federation says he and several of his South American counterparts discussed the Swiss bank account he used to accept bribes. MEMORIAL: Fans gathered at the stadium of Brazilian club Chapecoense on Tuesday night, paying their respects and praying for the victims of a plane crash a year ago that killed 19 of the team’s players. A vigil will be held in the early hours today at the Arena Conda stadium, where photos are being displayed of all 71 people killed in the crash.