Neymar Jr and former Barcelona president Bartomeu face potential prison sentence, with issues on the 2013 transfer to Barca.
A shocking article from El Confidential has shed new insight on Barcelona’s convoluted acquisition of Neymar in 2013, which continues to give the team trouble to this day.
The report’s main argument is that Santos is in serious difficulty since they have allegedly stopped paying their taxes. They must pay the government €2.7 million for the 2013 transfer of their star forward.
Josep Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, two former presidents of Barcelona, have been charged with fraud. They have been blamed for drafting a number of contracts with Santos that catered to the Brazilian team and gave them major financial advantages.
Santos only received €9.4 million of the €17 million Barcelona formally paid for Neymar, holding only 55% of the player’s transfer rights. The remaining payments were paid to the Brazilian business DIS, who held 40% of them, and Teisa, which owned the remaining 5%.
According to the alleged lies told in the transaction, Barça’s executives collaborated with Santos to pay Neymar an additional sum of money without telling either DIS or Teisa.
For instance, Barça was required to pay €2 million for Neymar’s FIFA World Player candidacy as well as €4.5 million more for a friendly that was never held.
Santos received a total of about €23 million thanks to Barça’s almost €8 million in additional contributions, which were made without the knowledge of the other two private parties.
Additionally, Neymar’s family has been charged with corruption by the prosecutor’s office, which also seeks a €10 million fine and a two-year prison sentence. A fine of €8.4 million can be imposed on Barcelona.
The issue is expected to be resolved just one month before the 2022 FIFA World Cup begins, despite the fact that every legal party involved in it has refuted the charges.
