Spanish justice has decided that the trial of the Brazilian star of Paris-Saint-Germain, Neymar, will take place in Barcelona from October 17 to 31, one month before the World Cup in Qatar. Neymar, his parents, and the former presidents of Barça, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, are accused of “corruption”. The last two cities will also have to answer for an alleged offense of “fraud”, just like the Santos club and its former president Odilio Rodrigues Filho, according to the dismissal decision consulted by AFP on Wednesday July 27.
The prosecution demanded two years in prison and a 10 million euro fine against Neymar who had assured, during the investigation, that he was content to play football and that he had blind faith in his father, who is also his agent.
This trial, which will be held barely a month before the World Cup in Qatar (November 21-December 18), comes after a first legal procedure around this transfer which was concluded by an agreement between the prosecution and Barça. The club had agreed, in 2016, to pay a fine of 5.5 million euros to avoid a trial.
At the origin of the case, the Brazilian group DIS, former partial holder of the player’s rights, had considered itself aggrieved during the transfer of the striker and had filed a complaint against Neymar, his father, the club of Santos, the Barça and their leaders.
The DIS group accuses Neymar and Barça of having hidden from it the real amount of the player’s transfer (figure at 57.1 million euros by Barça, including 40 for Neymar’s family, 17.1 paid to Santos who has paid 6.8 million to DIS) to give it less money. According to justice, the transfer would have, in reality, cost at least 83.3 million euros.