Ekun Samuel, 27 January 2017
Former Barcelona President Sandro Rosell, both Neymar and his father whom is his agent and also 'Santos' Neymar's former club, where he was sold to Barcelona are all facing trial and a potential two years prison sentence over irregularities concerning Neymar's transfer from Brazilian club Santos four years ago 2013.
Initially reported at a lower level (€57.1 million or $64 million), Barcelona were later forced to admit that the transfer fee they paid for Neymar was much higher. Much, much higher. The actual transfer fee as it came out almost a year after Summer 2013? €86.2 million or $96.6 million.
The reprecussions of the Neymar transfer fee scandal were far and wide. In fact, when it came out that FC Barcelona had reportedly paid a full €30 million ($32.6 million) more than initially stated for Neymar, it forced former club president Sandro Rosell to resign.
Spain's tax authorities then forced Barcelona to pay an incremental €13.5 million (or $15.1 million). Add to that the €6.4 million ($7.2 million) Barcelona paid in uncovered contracts to Santos, and you have a whopping €106.1 million ($119 million).
The icing on the cake is that FC Barcelona is reported by Joan Laporta (former president of FC Barcelona) to have paid €122 million ($136.8 million) in legal fees over the entire matter. And that doesn't take into account the additional fines for tax fraud allegedly committed during the signing, which have been reported to be around €51.1 million ($57.3 million).
As a result of all of this, the originally reported €57.1 million ($64 million) Neymar transfer fee may actually end up at €279.2 million ($313 million) for FC Barcelona – certainly the most expensive transfer in the history of football. We break it down in a single visual below.
The complaint was made by Brazilian investment company DIS — who owned 40 percent of Neymar's rights at the time and claim they were undercut — and is also against the player's father, the two clubs and former Barca president Sandro Rosell.
De la Mata originally took the decision to close the case against all parties last summer, but it was re-opened in September and remains unresolved.
DIS feel they are owed more money from what they believe was a heavily concealed transfer fee and are also requesting a five-year prison sentence for Neymar.
Meanwhile, the Spanish prosecutors handling the case are seeking a two-year prison sentence and a €10 million fine for Neymar. They propose the same punishment for Neymar's father and Sandro Rosell.
