Spanish prosecutors on Friday dropped all charges against Neymar (currently under contract with PSG) and others on trial over alleged irregularities surrounding the Brazilian’s 2013 move from Santos to Barcelona. , reports AFP.

The Spanish prosecutor’s office dropped the charges against Neymar

Speaking at one of the last hearings of this trial, which took place in Barcelona, ​​less than a month before the World Cup, the prosecutor announced the “dismissal of the charges against all the defendants and for all the acts” of which they are accused, writes Agerpres.

Initially, the prosecutor’s office demanded two years in prison and a fine of 10 million euros from the Brazilian attacker of PSG, accused of corruption.

In addition to Neymar and his parents, two former presidents of “Barca” Sandro Rosel and Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as a former official of the Brazilian club “Santos” Odilio Rodríguez Filho, are on trial at the trial, which will end on Monday.

Neymar assured the court last week that he always signed what his father told him to sign.

“Dad was always in charge” of negotiating contracts, “he was always in charge of it. I will sign what he tells me,” the player assured during the hearing.

The forward said he “doesn’t recall” being involved in negotiations over a deal with Barca over his upcoming transfer in 2011, which is at the heart of the process.

How Neymar was accused of corruption

The case began with a complaint by the Brazilian group DIS, the former owner of part of the player’s rights, which considered itself aggrieved in this transaction and appealed to the court in 2015.

Initially, “Barca” announced that the player’s transfer cost 57.1 million euros. According to Spanish justice, it was actually worth at least 83 million.

DIS, which collected 6.8 million euros of the 17.1 million received by Santos, estimated that Barca and Neymar colluded to hide the true value of the transfer. The company is seeking compensation in the amount of 35 million euros, which is the amount it considers lost in this business.

The player’s defense argued that he had not committed any crime. According to the defense, the 40 million euros he received for this transfer corresponded to the “legitimate and customary transfer premium in the football market”.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was remarkably evasive when asked to explain how the 2011 deal between Barca and Neymar over a future transfer could have affected the mercato, preventing other clubs from competing for him.

While he confirmed that Real Madrid had made Santos a €45m offer for Neymar, Perez insisted he was not directly involved in the negotiations and that “players go where they want”.

The process was dubbed “Neymar 2”, “Neymar 1”, referring to the tax evasion case that arose out of the same transfer and ended in 2016 with a deal between prosecutors and the Catalan club, which agreed to pay a fine of 5, 5 million. euro.

Neymar and Barca also fell out in court, but eventually signed a deal in July 2021, ending all financial disputes between them.