BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A few hours after scoring the winning goal in Paris Saint-Germain’s victory over Marseille in the French league, Neymar arrived in court in Spain on Monday to face a trial for alleged irregularities involving his transfer to Barcelona in 2013.
Neymar’s parents, former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and representatives for both the Spanish club and Brazilian team Santos also appeared in court after a complaint brought by Brazilian investment group DIS regarding the amount of the player’s transfer.
The Brazil forward arrived at the court in Barcelona wearing sunglasses and a black suit and tie. Neymar's mother and father, who also is his agent, were among those arriving alongside the player.
The defendants, who have denied wrongdoing, sat near each other to hear the opening arguments in the trial that comes nearly a month before the World Cup opens on Nov. 20 in Qatar, and is expected to last until the end of the month.
Neymar and the rest of the defendants have to be in court for the first day of the trial, but the player is only expected to testify on Friday.
On Sunday night, Neymar scored his ninth French league goal of the season in first-half stoppage time to lead PSG to a 1-0 win over Marseille in French soccer’s biggest game.
Neymar and his father face corruption charges. Prosecutors have asked for a prison sentence of up to two years, although any jail time would likely be suspended. DIS asked for a five-year prison sentence for the 30-year-old Neymar and his father, and for compensation of 34 million euros ($32.1 million) and a fine of 195 million euros ($190 million) that would be paid to the Spanish state.
Prosecutors seek a fine of 10 million euros ($9.7 million) for Neymar and his father. They also seek five years in prison for Rosell for fraud and corruption charges, plus a fine of 10 million euros ($9.7 million).
Neymar’s representatives have argued that the crime of corruption between individuals was not punishable in Brazil, which is where they say the transactions originally took place. They said that according to Spanish law, a crime can't be punished in Spain if it didn't happen in both territories.
DIS was entitled to 40% of Neymar’s transfer but said it received a smaller compensation because part of the transfer fee was concealed. Prosecutors said those involved tried to hide the real amount of the transfer in order to pay a lower commission to the investment group.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that DIS only received its due percentage from the 17 million euros ($16.6 million) that Barcelona and Santos initially announced as the transfer fee between the clubs, while the real cost was about 82 million euros ($79.9 million). An investigative judge in Spain has already said that the real cost was at least 83.3 million euros ($81.2 million).
Neymar and his father previously appeared in court in Madrid a few years ago because of the accusations.
Neymar made his highly anticipated move to Spain at age 21. He helped Barcelona win the club’s last Champions League title in 2015, and eventually became involved in a soap-opera like transfer to PSG in 2017.
Neymar’s move from Santos also got Barcelona in trouble with Spain’s tax office. In 2016, the Catalan club paid a fine of 5.5 million euros ($5.3 million now) to settle a separate case brought by authorities. In that settlement, the club acknowledged it had made “an error in the fiscal planning of the player’s transfer.”
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Azzoni reported from Madrid.
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Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni
