DIS demands that Neymar, his father alias Neymar and who serves as his agent, and former Barcelona coaches Sandro Rosell and Josep Bartomeu be jailed for five years.
All the defendants denied any wrongdoing.
The trial is expected to last until the end of October, with the opening of the World Cup in Qatar on November 20. Neymar is required to attend unless the judge gives him permission to skip a session.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that DIS only received the due percentage of the € 17 million ($ 16.5 million) originally announced by Barcelona and Santos as a transfer between clubs, while the actual cost was approximately € 82 million (79 , $ 7 million). An investigating magistrate in Spain has already stated that the actual cost was at least 83.3 million euros (81 million dollars).
The player Neymar, with the complicity of his parents, of Barcelona and his managers then and then of Santos, betrayed the legitimate economic interests of the DIS, not only by cheating the club but also by violating the trust placed. about him, ”said Paulo M. Nasser, DIS lawyer.
DIS and Spanish prosecutors accused Rosell of making a special payment of 40 million euros ($ 38.8 million) directly to Neymar and his family, which DIS did not receive, to secure his transfer to Camp Nou to support. Nasser likened this payment to a “bribe” that distorted the free market and damaged other clubs’ chances of signing Neymar. Real Madrid also pushed to sign Neymar while he was at Santos and Madrid president Florentino Pérez is expected to testify via videoconference during the trial.
DIS, which owns a supermarket chain in the São Paulo region, also accuses Santos of hiding another 12 million euros ($ 11.6 million) received from Barcelona for Neymar. The DIS claims that the extra money was hidden in two alleged fake contracts, one for a Barcelona-Santos friendly and another guaranteeing Barcelona the first part of the transfers of other Santos players.
DIS claimed it acquired the right to receive 40% of any future Neymar relocation in 2009 when it paid Neymar’s family 5 million Brazilian reals, then the equivalent of 2 million euros (1.94 million dollars). ). Nasser said the deal was signed by Neymar’s family and DIS owners, brothers Delcir and Idi Sonda, “the day before Neymar’s debut with Santos first team.”
Nasser also represents an association of Brazilian footballers whose solidarity fund to support current and former players was funded by collecting 0.8% of transfers.
Nasser said the DIS is seeking justice in Spain rather than Brazil, as it believes most of the alleged irregularities have occurred in the European country.
Prosecutors are demanding a two-year prison sentence and a € 10 million fine for Neymar. In Spain, sentences of less than two years can be suspended for first offenses, such as in the case of tax fraud against Lionel Messi, Neymar’s former teammate in Barcelona, and his father.
Prosecutors want five years in prison and a 10 million euro fine for Rosell. Former Santos president Odilio Rodrigues faces a three-year prison sentence. Prosecutors are not looking for Bartomeu, who was Barcelona vice president at the time before succeeding Rosell when he stepped down as control over the Neymar affair increased.
DIS lawyers ask for five years in prison for 30-year-old Neymar and his father. The DIS asks for five years in prison for both Rosell and Bartomeu. DIS is also asking for 34 million euros (33 million dollars) in damages and a fine of 195 million euros (189.5 million dollars) that the defendant would pay to the Spanish state.
Neymar made his long-awaited move to Spain at the age of 21 amidst huge fanfare. While he wowed fans with outrageous goals and helped win the club’s latest Champions League title, Neymar became a chronic headache for the club, including the soap opera of a departure for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, against Bartomeu did everything in his power.
Neymar’s transfer from Santos also got Barcelona in trouble with the Spanish tax authorities. In 2016, Barcelona paid a € 5.5 million fine to settle a separate case initiated by the authorities. In this deal, the club admitted that it had made “a mistake in the financial planning of the player’s transfer”.
