Neymar faces call for five-year prison sentence over transfer to Barcelona

Neymar is set to be tried for fraud and corruption accusations related to his 2013 move from Santos to Barcelona, as a Brazilian investment group has demanded that he receives a five-year prison term.

DIS, which at the time held 40% of the rights of the Brazillian, claims it suffered losses because the transfer cost was too low.

The 30-year-old Neymar has refuted the claims, but in 2017 he was unsuccessful in his appeal before Spain’s High Court, which allowed Spanish prosecutors to proceed with the prosecution.

The PSG player will need to show up in person for the trial’s opening day in Barcelona on Monday, according to the court, but it’s not obvious if he’ll stick around for the entire two-week hearing.

The other defendants are Neymar’s parents, the two clubs, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Sandro Rosell, and Odilio Rodrigues, the former presidents of Santos and Barcelona, respectively.

Rosell has additionally in the past denied any misconduct.

In a statement, Backer McKenzie, the lawyers representing the Neymar family, claimed that Spanish courts “lack jurisdiction to prosecute the Neymar family and their company N&N” because the acts were committed by Brazilian nationals outside Spanish territory.

Additionally, they note that the claimed crimes are not considered crimes in Brazil.

When he was 17, Neymar’s rights were partially purchased by DIS for 2 million euros.

Neymar’s transfer cost, according to Barcelona, was 57.1 million euros, of which his family received 40 million.

The remainder of the 17.1 million euros paid to the Brazilian team Santos, which totaled 40%, went to the investing company.

“Neymar’s rights have not been sold to the highest bidder,” DIS lawyer Paulo Nasser told a news conference in Barcelona on Thursday. “There were clubs that offered up to 60m euros.”

DIS is asking for a 149 million euro fine in addition to the five-year prison sentence and prison terms for Rosell and Bartomeu.

DIS is asking for a 149 million euro fine in addition to the five-year prison sentence and prison terms for Rosell and Bartomeu.

Spanish prosecutors are seeking two years in prison for Neymar, as well as a fine of 10 million euros, as well as a five-year sentence for Rosell and a fine of 8.4 million euros for Barcelona.

The Neymar family has been accused of “corruption between private individuals,” which pertains to “competition of products and services between firms,” but Neymar “is not a service or a commodity,” according to Backer McKenzie’s statement.

The statement concluded by stating that no Fifa regulations had been infringed by the trade.