Neymar might be handed a two-year jail sentence

Spanish prosecutors have recommended that Neymar be handed a two-year prison sentence due to alleged irregularities surrounding his transfer to Barcelona.

A judge in Spain accepted corruption charges against the Brazil captain earlier this month, with Neymar accused, along with others, of concealing a portion of the cost of his move from Santos to the Nou Camp in 2013. As well as the jail sentence, prosecutors have also called for the 24-year-old to be fined €10m (£8.6m).

They are seeking the same punishment for Neymar`s father, and also former club president Sandro Rosell, who is facing an additional three years for fraud charges.

Prosecutors asked for a fine of €8.4m (£7.2m) for the club, but called for charges against current president Josep Maria Bartomeu to be dropped.

A complaint was made by Brazilian investment group DIS, which owned 40 per cent of Neymar’s transfer rights but said it received less money than it should have when he moved to Barcelona because part of the transfer fee was concealed.

Barca said the price of Neymar’s transfer was €57.1m (£50.82m), with Santos receiving €17.1m (£15.22m). Prosecutors said the total amount paid by the Spanish club to Santos was €25.1m (£22.34m), meaning DIS would be entitled to an additional €3.2m (£2.85m).

Rosell resigned as the club’s president in 2014 for his role in the affair and testified in court in February alongside Bartomeu, Neymar and Neymar’s father.

The club struck a deal with prosecutors in June to settle a separate case and paid a €5.5m (£4.89m) fine and avoided trial on charges of tax evasion over the transfer. In that agreement, the club acknowledged it made ‘an error in the fiscal planning of the player’s transfer’.

Barcelona thought they had brought the affair to a close when judge Jose de la Mata archived the case in June, but Spain’s public prosecutor successfully overturned the ruling in September, allowing the case to proceed.

Source: Sky Sports