Former Barcelona and PSG star, Neymar Jr, is in Spain for a fraud trial over his 2013 Barcelona deal. He has reportedly been allowed to skip the first day of practice after featuring in PSG’s Le Classique clash against Marseille.
Neymar is currently standing trial over alleged corruption and fraud in his transfer from his parent club Dos Santos to Barcelona.
He arrived in Spain on Monday, 17 October 2022, and was spotted in court among the other defendants.
Neymar is the 9th defendant in the case, with his family also among the other defendants.
However, Neymar was excused from the court during launch time because his lawyer argued that he must have been exhausted after playing against Olympique Marseille in PSG’s French Ligue 1 clash.
Neymar was also given a post-match drug test and was allowed to leave during launch time.
A Brazilian investment firm, DIS, is calling on the court to sentence Neymar to five-years imprisonment for allegedly shortchanging them in the Barcelona deal that saw the PSG star move from Brazil to Spain.
DIS is also praying the court to fine the PSG star a sum of £130m.
In contrast, Spanish prosecutors, who are also involved in the case, are pressing for Neymar to be sentenced to two-year imprisonment and a fine of £8.9m.
Barcelona’s former President, Sandro Russel, is also indicted in the case, with Spanish prosecutors calling for a five-year jail term and £7.2m fine for the former Barcelona president.
DIS Vs Neymar face-off
DIS bought the right to have a 40% share of Neymar’s transfer deal when he was 17.
In 2013, the agreement was still binding on both parties when Barcelona signed Neymar from Dos Santos.
According to DIS, the firm lost out on the sale of winger to Barcelona because the skilled winger was reportedly undervalued in the deal.
The Catalans reportedly paid £50m in the Neymar deal, out of which £35m was paid to Neymar’s family.
It was only £15m remaining, in which DIS was to drill out their 40% share.
According to reports, DIS paid £1.7m to secure the 40% deal in Neymar’s future transfer.
The point of contention is that they would have received more from the deal instead of the £15m left after the sale.
A lawyer representing DIS stated that the right to Neymar’s transfer package wasn’t sold to the highest bidder as parties offered as high as €60m, but were rejected.
“Neymar’s rights have not been sold to the highest bidder. There were clubs that offered up to 60m euros.”
Neymar is in Spain to stand trial along with his parents and their N&N company, which manages the affair of the PSG star.
Spanish prosecutors waded into the case when Neymar lost the case in High Court in 2017 after denying any wrongdoing.
The trial is set to last for two weeks, and Neymar will tender his evidence on Friday, 21 October 2022.
However, it is still unclear whether he will stay through the two weeks of trial. If convicted, he may be imprisoned and fined as well.
The highly-rated Brazil winger shone in PSG’s narrow 1-0 win over Olympique Marseille, scoring the only goal of the game.
