Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar traveled to Barcelona this week. Monday was the start date for the ‘Neymar 2’ trial, where the Brazilian, among multiple football personalities, faces allegations of private corruption and attempted fraud related to his transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.
Brazilian company DIS owned 40 percent of Neymar’s rights in 2013. It claims the football camp, Barcelona and Santos orchestrated a network of unofficial payments to hide the final prize, ultimately cutting its share of the transfer to Spain.
Claims of DIS have been investigated by the Spanish prosecutor’s office, which brought a renowned list of suspects to the port of Barcelona: Neymar, his parents Neymar da Silva and Nadine Goncalves, former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as former Santos President Odilio Rodrigues.
All defendants have denied any allegation.
What happened to Neymar’s signing for Barcelona?
In 2011, Barcelona president Rosell reached an agreement with Neymar’s camp for the player to join the club in 2014 – when his contract with Santos expired.
This agreement included the payment of €40 million (£34.7 million, $39.4 million) to the footballer’s family, of which €10 million was prepaid. If the move to Barcelona had not been completed, Neymar’s camp would have had to pay a €50 million fine to Barcelona.
The club’s board decided to go ahead with the signing a year earlier than originally planned. In 2013, Santos and Barcelona agreed a fee of 17 million euros for the transfer of Neymar. DIS, as the owner of 40 percent of the rights of the star, received 6.8 million euros.