Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 8y

Neymar family 'calm' as case over 2013 transfer to Barcelona is reopened

Neymar's family have said they are "very calm" after a fraud case against the Barcelona star and his father relating to the player's move to the Camp Nou was reopened last week following an appeal by Spanish prosecutors. 

The case centres around a complaint made by investment company DIS, which claims it is due more money from the 2013 deal.

"We're very calm because all the contracts legally, ethically and morally comply with the rules," a statement released by the family said.

Barcelona, Neymar's old club Santos and ex-Barca president Sandro Rosell are also implicated.

The club had initially stated that the fee for the 24-year-old was €57.1 million, with the majority of that going to companies controlled by Neymar Sr.

Of the €17.1m the club say went to Santos, DIS -- which at the time owned 40 percent of Neymar's sporting rights -- received €6.8m.

However, prosecutors claim the total amount paid by Barca to Santos was €25.1m, meaning DIS would be entitled to an additional €3.2m.

They say the difference comes from payments made by the Spanish champions for the future acquisitions of other players, as well as partnerships for friendly matches between the clubs.

The Neymar family statement added: "Santos and Barcelona had knowledge of all the details.

"We are even more relaxed because, according to our lawyers who are following the case in Spain, the court is no longer pursuing criminal responsibility. We remain convinced we'll eventually receive favourable answers."

A judge had originally archived the case in July, but prosecutors successfully argued on Friday that both Neymar and his father were aware of potentially fraudulent dealings between Barcelona and Santos.

Barcelona said in a statement: "FC Barcelona expresses its disagreement with the reasoning for the decision of the High Court to continue the process against Neymar, Neymar Jr., Sandro Rosell, Santos FC and FC Barcelona in the DIS case.

"The investigating judge, who had initially agreed to dismiss the case of all those investigated, must now reopen the case and hold a trial.

"In this trial, FC Barcelona has always maintained the innocence of all investigated."

In a separate case, Barcelona agreed to pay a €5.5m fine earlier this year with president Josep Maria Bartomeu admitting "a mistake in tax planning" when signing Neymar.

They also made a voluntary payment of €13.6m in 2014 when initially charged with tax fraud over the transfer, but have always denied any wrongdoing.

^ Back to Top ^