Court Acquits Neymar

According to the court’s prosecutor, the Spanish prosecution authorities dropped all charges of fraud and corruption against Brazilian footballer Neymar and other defendants in connection with his transfer from Brazil’s Santos to Barcelona in 2013.

Prosecutors demanded Neymar’s imprisonment for two years, together with a fine of 10 million euros.

A source close to Neymar’s family told Reuters that their representative, Baker McKenzie, would demand that the prosecution authorities bear the costs of the case and his clients’ right to claim damages.

The Brazilian striker, his father and former Barcelona and Santos executives are accused of concealing the true cost of his transfer with the alleged aim of deceiving a Brazilian private company that claimed it was worth 40 percent of the player’s future transfers.

The Brazilian supermarket chain DIS states that it received 40 percent of Neymar’s direct transfer rights in 2009, but received only 1 percent of the 17 million euros that Barcelona paid for Santos, when the real cost of the move was more than 80 million euros.