Football

Neymar could go to jail for two years after prosecutors call for action

Spanish prosecutors have called for Neymar be handed at least two years of prison time for the corruption allegations over his transfer from former club Santos to his current club, Barcelona. Neymar joined the Spanish giants in 2013.

Apart from that, Judge Jose Perals has also called for former Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell to be given a five-year jail sentence, and a fine of 8.4 million euros if found guilty.

Sandro Rosell resigned from the club in 2014 after testifying in court in February. He testified alongside Barca’s current president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Neymar, and Neymar’s father who acted as his agent. However, Perals has considered dropping the charges against Bartomeu as he wasn’t involved in the transfer.

Photo: Marca
Photo: Marca

 

Even so, it is very unlikely that the Barcelona forward will end up in prison. The Spanish legal system allows for prison terms under two years to be served under probation, or even suspended, given Neymar’s reputation.

It might be more difficult for Rosell to escape prison time though, because the 52 year old Spanish businessman messed with the big guys from DIS. DIS is a Brazilian investment group that owns 40% of Neymar’s transfer rights, and they did not receive their appropriate cut because Neymar’s original transfer fee was not revealed.

Barca claimed that they paid Santos 17.1 m euros, when in truth they paid 25.1m euros; which means DIS should have gotten a bigger cut of the fees, but didn’t.

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