Brazilian superstar Neymar faces trial in Spain for suspected irregularities in his transfer to Barcelona nearly ten years ago, just one month before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar.
Following a protracted legal battle over his 2013 move from the Brazilian club Santos, the trial for the 30-year-old player and his parents, whose business is in charge of managing his affairs, begins on Monday in Barcelona.
Three people are accused of commercial corruption.
After DIS, a Brazilian business that held 40% of the player’s sporting rights while he was playing for Santos, filed a complaint in 2015, investigators started looking into the transaction.
Barcelona claims the move cost 57.1 million euros, but the prosecution estimates it to have cost at least 83 million.
The club reported paying N&N, a business owned by the Neymar family, 40 million euros, as well as 17.1 million euros to Santos, of which 6.8 million euros were provided to DIS.
However, DIS asserts that Neymar, Barcelona, and the Brazilian club conspired to conceal the deal’s full cost.
A total of nine defendants are on trial on corruption-related charges, among them two former Barca presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, and ex-Santos boss Odilio Rodrigues Filho.
Rosell and Barcelona FC are facing charges of fraud and corruption, while Filho and Santos are accused of fraud.
If convicted, the Paris Saint-Germain forward could face two years in jail and a 10-million-euro ($9.7 million) fine.
The trial is to run until October 31, barely three weeks before the World Cup begins on November 20, with Neymar due to lead Brazil into their Group G opener against Serbia four days later.
