Brazil forward Neymar faces five years in prison for fraud and corruption charges surrounding his transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.
Neymar’s trial begins on Monday in Barcelona and along with the Brazilian, his parents, two clubs, former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell and former Santos president Odilio Rodrigues are accused.
The case arose after a lawsuit by Brazilian company DIS, which owned 40 percent of Neymar’s rights while he was at Santos.
The company claims that the sale of the footballer to Barcelona was significantly below his real market value.
“Neymar’s rights have not been sold to the highest bidder. There were clubs that offered up to 60 million euros,” DIS lawyer Paulo Nasser said at today’s press conference.
We recall that Barcelona announced that the transfer is worth 57.1 million euros, of which 40 million were paid to Neymar’s family.
DIS has received 40 percent of the remaining 17.1 million, so it is now seeking prison terms of up to six years and fines of up to 195 million euros for all.
A sentence of five years in prison is required for Neymar.