Neymar, Barcelona and Santos will stand trial on Oct. 17 on fraud and corruption charges over the transfer of the Brazilian forward to Barcelona from Santos in 2013, complainant DIS said in a statement today.
He will go to trial just a month before the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and the prosecution wants the court to hand him a five-year prison sentence.
Neymar’s father, mother and the family company N&N have also been charged in the case, along with former Santos manager Odilio Rodrigues, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, the then president and vice-president of Barcelona.
In a complex case, the company, which owned 40 per cent of the Paris Saint-Germain striker's 'federative rights' when he was at Santos, claims they were defrauded by the Brazilian, his family and Barcelona.
It is also alleged that Neymar, who joined PSG from Barcelona for a world record fee of £200million in 2017, and his father, signed two 'simulated contracts' with Barcelona that ignored the fact the player's rights belonged to the Brazilian club.
Transfer rights
DIS, which owned part of Neymar’s transfer rights, alleges that it received less money than it was entitled to when he joined Barcelona.
Investigations were carried out in Spain and Brazil into whether any part of the transfer fee had been concealed and the trial, to be held at the Provincial Court of Barcelona, is scheduled to run until Oct. 31.
Neymar has denied wrongdoing but in 2017, Spain’s High Court rejected appeals by the player, his parents, N&N and the two clubs, paving the way for the case to go to trial.
DIS want Neymar, who will be the focal point of the Brazilian squad at the World Cup, to be banned for football for five years and sent to prison for the same period. They are seeking compensation of around £12.6million.
Nine years have passed since he completed the transfer to Barcelona from Santos. Regarded as the best young footballer on the planet at the time, his signing was met with a lot of excitement. But in 2014, Barca were charged with tax fraud by a Spanish court over his signing. Neymar denied any wrongdoing and went on to win eight trophies in four seasons which included two La Liga titles and a Champions League title.
