BARCELONA, Oct 16: Five years since Neymar put a tumultuous end to his career at Barcelona, the Brazil forward will be tried in Spain to determine whether he and others committed fraud when he joined the Catalan club from Santos back in 2013.
In a trial starting Monday in Barcelona, Neymar, his father, and the former leaderships of both Barcelona and Brazilian club Santos face charges of fraud and unfair competition. They are accused of hiding the real cost of his transfer with the goal of not paying money that DIS, a private Brazilian company, says it is owed as the rightful owners of 40% of Neymar’s player rights.
DIS is asking for Neymar, his father, also called Neymar and who acts as his agent, and former Barcelona executives Sandro Rosell and Josep Bartomeu to be jailed for five years. All the accused have denied wrongdoing.
The trial is expected to last until the end of October, with the World Cup opening on Nov. 21 in Qatar. Neymar will be obliged to attend unless the judge grants him permission to miss a session.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that DIS only received its due percentage from the 17 million euros ($16.5 million) that Barcelona and Santos initially announced as the transfer fee between the clubs, while the real cost was some 82 million euros ($79.7 million). An investigative judge in Spain has already said that the real cost was at least 83.3 million euros ($81 million).
“Neymar the player, with the complicity of his parents, and of Barcelona and its executives at the time, and of Santos at a later date, defrauded the legitimate economic interests of DIS, cheating not only the company but violating the confidence that had been placed in him,” Paulo M. Nasser, lawyer for DIS, said.
DIS and Spanish state prosecutors accuse Rosell of making an extra payment of 40 million euros ($38.8 million) directly to Neymar and his family, of which DIS received nothing, to secure his move to Camp Nou. (AP)
