Neymar has to go to court, he faces 5 years in prison! He was supposed to be part of the Barcelona transfer scam

Perhaps the most famous court case in football has another sequel. Neymar, for allegedly cheating in his transfer to Barcelona, must face a trial that will begin just a month before the World Cup starts.

The Brazilian company DIS, which has been in dispute with Neymar for several years, points to possible fraud. DIS claims to own 40% of Neymar’s transfer rights. This is based on the contract it signed with him as a 17-year-old.

The Brazilian company bought the rights for around €2 million. Some might have seen it as a risk to invest so much in a young footballer, of whom there are thousands born in Brazil, but DIS made it work.

Neymar later moved from Santos to Barcelona and DIS was looking forward to the big money. It just certainly didn’t work out the way it should have.

In fact, according to DIS, Barcelona falsified the transfer amount so that they wouldn’t have to pay out so much money to the company. Officially, the Catalan club paid €57 million for Neymar, but it was later revealed that the amount was €83 million.

And DIS doesn’t want to take that lying down. Although the procuracy is proposing two years in prison and a fine of €10 million for Neymar, the defrauded company is asking for up to five years in prison and a settlement of €150 million, according to the Spanish newspaper El País.

It is also seeking five years’ imprisonment for Neymar’s father and mother, who were also allegedly involved in the fraud. The prosecution here is more lenient and proposes two years in prison for the father and one for the mother.

Along with Neymar’s family, Barcelona’s then bosses Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell are also charged.

In the case of Josep Maria Bartomeu, DIS is asking for up to 8 years in prison. However, the prosecution has concluded that there is no evidence that the then vice-president had any knowledge that a transfer was being baked behind the company’s back.

But Bartomeu himself is certainly not off the hook, as he was arrested last year and is still under investigation for using club money for his own propaganda and smearing the names of his opponents for the presidency. Barcelona paid 2.3 million euros for these “hired workers” who spread hate on social media.

Source: El País