Brazilian star Neymar appeared in court in Barcelona on Monday, a month before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, where his trial began for alleged wrongdoing in connection with his 2013 move from Santos to the Catalan club.
Prosecutors have filed corruption charges against the current Paris Saint-Germain French star, who is aiming to lead Selezo to a sixth world title starting November 20, seeking a two-year prison sentence and a €10 million fine. The trial is expected to last until the end of this month.
Among the other eight defendants are members of his family, in addition to two former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell, who was ordered by prosecutors to receive a five-year prison sentence, and Josep Maria Bartomeu. as former Santos director Odilio Rodriguez Filho. Neymar, who announced 6 years ago that his father was in charge of his business, appeared in court on Monday, the day after he scored the winning goal in the Classic against Marseille in the 11th stage of Ligue 1. According to a court document released on Friday, Neymar is due to testify on either the 21st or 28th of this month.
On the second day of the trial, Tuesday, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez will testify via video link to explain how a secret 2011 deal between Barcelona and the international striker has negatively impacted the transfer period, preventing other clubs from entering the transfer market for receiving Neymar Services.
The case was opened on the basis of a complaint filed by the Brazilian group DIS, which owned part of the rights to the player, after they considered themselves affected by the transfer to the Catalan club. The investigation into the case began in January 2014 after inconsistencies were found in some of the documents requested by the authorities. Barcelona initially agreed to pay 57.1 million euros (40 million to the player’s family and 17.1 million to his former club Santos) in exchange for his services, but according to the calculations of the Spanish judiciary, the deal was worth at least 83 million euros. . And the DIS group, which received 6 million from the amount paid to the Brazilian club, considered that Barcelona and Neymar agreed to hide the true cost of this deal. Neymar moved from Barcelona to Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017 in a €222 million deal, making him the most expensive player in the world.
