Black suit, sunglasses, the Brazilian star arrived this Monday morning around 7:45 a.m. in court, accompanied by his parents, also prosecuted. After less than two hours of hearing, the player of Paris Saint-Germain was authorized to leave the room, his lawyers arguing that he needed to rest after playing Sunday evening against OM at the Parc des Princes.
The Brazilian striker, who supports far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for the presidential election in his country, is accused of corruption in this trial which is due to last until October 31. The prosecution is asking for two years in prison and a fine of 10 million euros against him.
In addition to Neymar and his parents, two ex-presidents of Barça, Sandro Rosell and Josep María Bartomeu, and an ex-manager of his former Brazilian club Santos, Odilio Rodrigues Filho, are also on trial. Just like the legal entities of FC Barcelona, Santos FC and the company founded by the player’s parents to manage his career.
Testimony of the President of Real Madrid
The prosecution has called Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez to testify, who will intervene via video link to explain how Barca’s secret 2011 deal with the player weighed on the transfer window by preventing other clubs from fighting for recruit Neymar.
This hearing, expected as another highlight of the trial, is also scheduled for Tuesday, but the trial schedule may be subject to change.
Originally an investment company
It was the Brazilian investment company DIS, then holder of 40% of the player’s economic rights, which brought the case to court in 2015.
DIS considers having been wronged in the transfer of the striker, because if Barça initially calculated its cost at 57.1 million euros (40 million for Neymar and his family and 17.1 for Santos), the Spanish justice estimates that the recruitment of Neymar actually cost at least 83 million euros.
The company, which received 6.8 million euros of the 17.1 officially paid to the Brazilian club, claims that Barça, Neymar and then Santos allied themselves to hide the real amount of the operation and have it ” cheated”.
She is claiming 35 million euros in compensation, the amount she believes she lost in the case.
Neymar already sentenced
For their part, Neymar’s lawyers claim that their client has not committed any crime, the 40 million euros he received corresponding, according to them, to “a legal and usual transfer bonus on the football market” .
This trial has been nicknamed “Neymar 2”, “Neymar 1” designating the tax evasion case deriving from this same transfer and which was concluded in 2016 by an agreement between the prosecution and the Catalan club, which had agreed to pay a fine of 5.5 million euros.
Neymar and Barça had already found themselves in court in 2020, but this time face-to-face, the player claiming from the club the payment of a bonus of 43.6 million euros.
For its part, FC Barcelona had filed a complaint against its former player for breach of contract and won the case, Neymar having been ordered to pay 6.79 million euros to his former club. “Ney” and Barça ended up signing an “amicable” agreement in July 2021 ending all financial disputes between them.