Neymar has been set free as a public prosecutor on Friday informed a court that Spanish Authorities have dropped all corruption and fraud charges against the Brazilian.
The public prosecutor informed a court on Friday that Spanish authorities have dismissed all fraud and corruption allegations against Brazilian star Neymar and other suspects related to his 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona.
Neymar was targeted by prosecutors who urged a court in Spain to slam a 10-million-euro ($8.62-million) fine and a two-year prison sentence on the footballer.
According to a source close to the legal team defending Neymar, Baker Mckenzie would seek expenses from the private prosecution for what they view as negligence, bad faith, and abuse of the judicial system. Additionally, they reserve the right to make a damage claim.
Neymar testified last week in court that he did not take part in the negotiations surrounding his nine-year move from Santos to “childhood dream” club Barcelona. He just signed what his father had instructed him to.
“I didn’t participate in the negotiations. My father always took care of it and always will. I sign everything he tells me to sign,” Neymar told the court in Barcelona in his first testimony in the trial that began on Monday.
“Playing for Barcelona was always my dream, a childhood dream.”
What was Neymar’s offence?
Neymar faced charges in Spain for allegedly making an illegal transfer from Brazil Santos to Barcelona 10 years ago.
On Monday, when the trial in Barcelona began, Neymar, a star for PSG, appeared in court with his parents, whose company handled the transfer’s transaction.
Neymar’s dad and him were charged with corporate corruption.
Investigators started looking into the deal after DIS, a Brazilian company that owned 40% of the player’s sporting rights while he was playing for Santos, filed a complaint in 2015.
Barcelona asserted that the transaction cost 57.1 million euros ($89.6 million), but prosecutors believe it to have cost at least 83 million euros ($130.2 million).
In addition to providing Santos 17.1 million euros, of which 6.8 million euros were transferred to DIS, the club claimed to have granted the Neymar family’s business N&N 40 million euros.
Nine defendants were also on trial for corruption-related offenses, including two former Barca presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as former Santos boss Odilio Rodrigues Filho.
What is the history of the Neymar’s case?
The argument revolved around the claim that Brazilian investment firm DIS, which had 40% of Neymar’s rights while he was playing for Santos in Brazil, was cheated out of receiving its fair share of the transfer fee since the value of the deal was overstated.
The alleged crime that Neymar Jr. and his family were charged with likewise has no legal repercussions in Brazil.
According to a court document made public in July, Barcelona started talks with the player in 2011 and paid him €40 million to assure his transfer when his deal with Santos expired in 2014. This prevented other teams from signing him at the time.
“Our intention was to prepare a career plan for him in Europe, in which we had in place already established, could learn the language, etc. And knowing his dream to play for Barcelona, we signed that priority agreement with them,” the player’s father, Neymar da Silva Santos, told the court.
Despite having the option to decline, Neymar and his parents chose to testify instead, only taking questions from the prosecution and their own attorneys.
Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, testified before the court via videolink that his club made Neymar offers of €45 million in 2011 and €36 million in 2013, but the player ultimately decided to join Barcelona.
