The Neymar-DIS case, also known as the Neymar 2 case, has dragged on since 2015, two years after the transfer of the footballer between Santos and Barça was closed. The official figures for the operation were 57.1 million. Of these, 17.1 corresponded to the player’s federation rights and the remaining 40 to a signing bonus for Neymar and his parents. However, as a result of the complaint that the partner Jordi Casas once presented, it was discovered that the costs of the signing were higher, since Barça and Santos had agreed on a series of parallel payments. The club, then chaired by Sandro Rosell – and with Josep Maria Bartomeu as sporting vice president – had initially justified that they were independent operations, but in the end it ended up recognizing the facts and accepting a sentence for fraud of 5.5 million that was paid by the ‘entity – thus exonerating Rosell and Bartomeu from responsibility.
The DIS fund, which in 2009 had 40% of Neymar’s rights when he was at Santos, had charged 6.8 million for the transfer. However, as a result of this information, he considered that he had been defrauded and filed a complaint. The Brazilian company maintained that it was due a lot more money, since the friendly agreed between Barça and Santos, valued at 4.5 million, and the 7.9 million that the ‘entita Blaugrana paid to have a preferential right on three young players who did not land at Camp Nou. According to DIS, therefore, he should have received 40% of the 29.5 million that ended up paying, in all concepts, Barça to Santos.
DIS – which also takes into account the money that Barça paid to Neymar as a signing bonus – is demanding compensation for damages of 150 million euros, 5 years in prison for the player and 8 years in prison for in Rosell and Bartomeu. On the other hand, the Federation of Professional Athletes’ Associations of Brazil (FAAP) also appears as a particular accusation, which considers that its rights were violated in that allegedly fraudulent operation between Barça and Santos. Thus, it claims a small percentage of the transfer money, which would be used for social purposes.
The Prosecutor’s Office exonerates Josep Maria Bartomeu from responsibility for the Neymar-DIS case
The case was initially in the National Court, but Barça – which had defended, unsuccessfully, that the conflict was between DIS and Santos and therefore had to be judged in Brazil – ended up getting it transferred to the Barcelona hearing. Now there is a trial date and the Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 5 years in prison and a 10 million euro fine for Sandro Rosell, then Barcelona president, for the crimes of corruption and fraud. In the case of Neymar, currently a Paris Saint-Germain player, he is asking for 2 years in prison and a 10 million fine for a crime of corruption. Instead, the public ministry exonerates Josep Maria Bartomeu, sports vice-president when the events occurred, as it considers that he was not part of the negotiations. Bartomeu, however, is accused by the private prosecution of DIS and the FAAP.
The player’s father and mother will also sit in the dock – owners of the N&N company, which collected the signing premium -, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 2 years and 1 year in prison, respectively. for the alleged crimes of corruption. And Odilio Rodrígues, ex-leader of Santos, is also accused, for whom 3 years in prison is requested for fraud. Three legal entities will also be tried: Barça, Santos and the N&N company, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office is requesting 8.4 million euros, 7 million and 1.44 million euros in fines, respectively.
