The trial on the alleged irregularities surrounding the transfer of Neymar to FC Barcelona in 2013 ends on Monday after the about-face of the prosecution which considerably weakened the accusation.
The trial on the alleged irregularities surrounding the transfer of Neymar to FC Barcelona in 2013 ends on Monday after the about-face of the prosecution which considerably weakened the accusation.
«Neyas his parents, who had sat in the dock at the start of the trial, will have the opportunity to speak one last time by videoconference.
In addition to Neymar and his parents, two former presidents of Barça, Sandro Rosell and Josep María Bartomeu, and a former manager of the Brazilian club Santos, Odilio Rodrigues Filho, are on trial in this trial which opened two weeks ago in Barcelona.
This final hearing comes after a dramatic turn of events, prosecutor Luis Garcia having announced on Friday “withdraw the accusation against all the defendants and for all the facts».
The prosecution had initially requested two years in prison and a fine of ten million euros for corruption against the Brazilian star of Paris SG, endorsing the accusations of the Brazilian company DIS which claims to have been defrauded during this transfer.
But the prosecutor ultimately found that the DIS charges “were not built on evidence” most “on presumptions» and that the file fell under civil and not criminal justice.
This reversal has brought to light deep differences within the Spanish prosecution on this complex case originally investigated by Madrid prosecutors before Barcelona took over the case.
If it does not necessarily predict the judge’s decision – which will be deliberated on Monday and will not be announced for weeks – it in any case considerably weakens the prosecution.
This now relies solely on DIS, which represents in this trial the “particular accusation», legal particularity allowing the presumed victim of the offense to request penalties.
As such, DIS is claiming five years in prison against Neymar.
«No new element that appeared (during the trial) justifies such a change of postureof the prosecution, reacted the lawyers of DIS.
Neymar’s lawyers asked the court for the Brazilian company to be ordered to pay the legal costs, accusing him of having been “dishonest».
Holder of 40% of Neymar’s rights when he played for Santos before his departure for Barça, DIS took the case to court in 2015, claiming that Barça, Neymar and his family then Santos in a second time, were allied to conceal the real amount of the transfer and “scam him».
She also criticizes them for not having informed her of the existence of an exclusive contract signed in 2011 between the Brazilian star and Barça, which distorted – according to her – the transfer window.
Barça initially estimated the cost of the transfer at 57.1 million euros (40 million for Neymar and his family and 17.1 for Santos) but Spanish justice estimates that it actually cost at least 83 million.
The Brazilian investment company, which received 6.8 million euros out of the 17.1 officially paid to the Brazilian club, is claiming 35 million euros in compensation, the amount it believes it lost in the case. .
«Neyand his parents denied any wrongdoing in court.
The player, who will take Brazil to the World Cup kicking off on November 20 in Qatar, said he would not “remember“To have participated in the negotiations of the exclusive agreement of 2011, ensuring to have relied on the choices of his father and to sign what he told him to sign.
Neymar’s father argued for his part that it was not up to him but to Santos to inform DIS of the existence of negotiations authorized, according to him, by the Brazilian club in a letter.
This trial has been dubbed “Neymar 2», «Neymar 1” designating the case of tax evasion deriving from this same transfer which was concluded in 2016 by an agreement between the prosecution and Barça, who had agreed to pay a fine of 5.5 million.
