Prosecutor drops charges against Neymar in case of his transfer to Barcelona

The Prosecutor’s Office this Friday (28) dropped all allegations of corruption and fraud against Neymar and the other defendants in the trial held in Barcelona for alleged irregularities surrounding the transfer of the Santos player to Barcelona in 2013.

The prosecutor announced the “drop of charges against all defendants and for all facts” for which they were prosecuted.

The prosecution had initially asked for two years in prison and a fine of 10 million euros (R$ 53 million) against the Brazilian star.

The allegations against the player, however, were not sustained during the hearing, according to the prosecutor. He considered that the accusations were based on “assumptions” and not on evidence, “not even circumstantial”.

On the 18th, the Brazilian testified in court. He stated that he does not remember whether he participated in negotiations with Barcelona in 2011, one of the central points of the case. The judgment must determine whether the DIS group, a sports investment fund that belonged to the Brazilian supermarket group Sonda and which at the time had part of the athlete’s economic rights, was a victim of fraud during the operation.

“It was always my father who took care of everything, he was always responsible for it”, he said.

For now, the private complaint carried out by the DIS Group, which asks for five years in prison for Neymar and two former presidents of Barcelona, ​​in addition to the payment of millionaire fines, remains.

understand the case

The trial at Barcelona’s Provincial Court is the latest chapter in a long-running feud between Neymar and his father with businessman Delcir Sonda, owner of Grupo DIS.

The businessman claims that he owned part of the striker’s economic rights when they were sold by Santos to Barcelona in 2013. DIS filed a complaint with the Spanish court that there had been fraud in the declared value of the negotiation.

Neymar, his father (of the same name), his mother Nadine and the former presidents of Barcelona Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu had been included in the list of accused of the crime of corruption of private individuals. Spanish leaders were also liable for tax fraud.

The complaint was made by the company in 2015, the year in which the player won the Champions League title with Barcelona.

DIS claims it owned 40% of Neymar’s rights when he was at Santos. In an interview given in 2017, Delcir Sonda said he considered himself betrayed because he started investing in the athlete in 2009, his second year as a professional. He even said that Neymar “cannot be an example for our children”.

DIS reported having paid US$ 2 million for 40% (R$ 10.5 million at the current price) of the athlete’s rights. By claiming to have been deceived by Neymar, his parents and Barcelona, ​​the company asks for fines that would total around 150 million euros (R$ 778 million in today’s values).

The group’s claim is that in 2011, Neymar and his father signed two contracts with Barcelona that did not mention that the player’s rights belonged to Santos and DIS. One of these contracts was worth 40 million euros (R$207.80 million currently) and served, the prosecution believes, for Barcelona to sign Neymar before he was free on the market.

The complaint also called into question the value declared by Barcelona for the purchase of Neymar in 2013. The club reported that it would have been 57 million euros (R$ 295.7 million). The suspicion was that the negotiation actually amounted to 83.3 million euros (R$ 432.20 million).