Brazil and PSG forward Neymar is set to stand trial next week on charges related to fraud and corruption over his move from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.
The trial is set to begin in Barcelona on Monday.
Along with Neymar the defendants also include his parents, the two clubs, former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and ex-Santos president Odilio Rodrigues.
The case against Neymar results from his partnership with DIS. The company acquired 40% of Neymar’s rights when he was aged 17 in exchange for just two million euros and argued that the player’s sale to Barcelona was well below his real market value.
Barcelona maintains that at the time of Neymar’s move that the transfer figure was 57.1 million euros, of which 40 million was paid to Neymar’s family and DIS received a 40 percent share of the remaining 17.1 million that was paid to Santos.
Spanish prosecutors want a two-year prison sentence for Neymar during the trial and a 10 million euros fine plus a five-year jail term for Rosell and an 8.4 million euros fine for Barcelona.
DIS, however, is looking for something stricter requesting jail terms for Rosell and Bartomeu, a total fine of 149 million euros for the defendants and a five-year jail term for Neymar.
Neymar has continuously denied the allegations but lost an appeal in Spain’s High Court in 2017, which paved the way for the trial. The Brazilian will have to appear in person on Monday for the first day but may be excused for the rest of the trial.
Neymar has since moved on from Barcelona to PSG for a world-record fee and is currently having one of the best seasons in the French capital.
