Internet Desk: A Spanish court on Monday ordered that Spanish club Barcelona and their star forward Neymar Jr will have to appear in court to face fraud and corruption charges over the signing of the Brazil forward from Santos to Barcelona.
The National Court confirmed that Barcelona, Neymar and two of the club’s presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor, Sandro Rosell should face trial for alleged unlawful dealings in 2011 between individuals over Neymar’s acquisition when he was still a player at the Brazilian club Santos.
Barcelona had previously appealed the case and requested it be dropped as it considered the investigation that led to the charges “does not prove the existence of a criminal act,” a claim the court rebutted.
The court also ratify that proceedings against Nadine Goncalves, the player’s mother, and the family company N & N, would go ahead after rejecting appeals brought by their defenses.
In November, National Court Judge Jose de la Mata issued a writ of prosecution following his acceptance of a complaint presented by DIS, an entity which owns 40 percent of the federative rights to the player.
These rights entitled DIS to 40 percent of Neymar’s transfer fee, but it contested that it received a lesser payment because part of the transfer fee had been deliberately concealed.
Neymar’s transfer to Barcelona was marred by controversy almost from the get go.
Barcelona paid a fine of 5.5 million euros ($6.1 million) in June to settle another case instigated by Spain’s tax authority.
Barcelona had agreed it made an error in what it called the fiscal planning for the player’s transfer.