Tuesday 7 June 2016 10:51, UK
Spanish prosecutors want Brazil star Neymar tried over fraud allegedly committed during his 2013 transfer to Barcelona, a judicial source said on Tuesday.
Prosecutors from Spain's top criminal court have accused the striker, his father, Barcelona's ex-president Sandro Rosell and the club itself of concealing the cost of the multi-million-euro transfer from Brazilian investment fund DIS.
DIS held 40 per cent of the 24-year-old's sporting rights when he played at Santos and has claimed it was cheated of its real share of the transfer due to parallel contracts that Barcelona and Santos allegedly used to hide the total cost.
Neymar and his father have denied any wrongdoing.
The case first came to light after fans and members of Barcelona launched an internal complaint, leading to the resignation of Rosell.
The transfer deal was originally valued at 57.1 million euros by Barca, 40 million of which was paid to the N&N company owned by the player's father.
Santos, where Neymar started his career, received 17.1 million, 6.8 million euros of which went to DIS.
However, Spanish judicial authorities have estimated the number of simultaneous deals in the transfer amounted to at least 83.3 million euros, with the difference allegedly going to Neymar, his family and Santos.
Prosecutors want Neymar, his father Neymar Da Silva Santos, Rosell and Barcelona itself to be tried for "private corruption among individuals". They also want Rosell, Barcelona, Santos and its president to be tried for "fraud."
Neymar's mother, Nadine, meanwhile, could also be tried for having profited financially from the alleged fraudulent transfer.
The Brazilian star has already given evidence to a judge in Spain as part of the probe, as has his father.
Rosell and current Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu were also called to testify in February but refused, insisting instead on the version of events they had given for a previous hearing.
Investigators in Brazil have also launched proceedings against the football star and his father over the same case.
Brazil's federal prosecution service has accused them of forging contracts to pay less tax.
Last September, Brazilian authorities froze $47m of the player's assets pending investigations.
