Neymar could be jailed for five years for corrupted Barcelona signing

Nine years have passed since Neymar completed a transfer to Barcelona from Brazilian giants Santos. Regarded as the best young footballer on the planet at the time, his signing was met with a lot of excitement and the Selecao did not fail to deliver either.

Neymar enjoyed tremendous success at Barcelona, spending four years before moving to PSG in 2017, as he sought to emerge out of Lionel Messi’s shadows.

While Neymar’s time on the field in Catalonia was a successful one, his transfer has been the reason for one of the biggest legal sagas in the game of football.

By this point, it is well-known that Neymar’s signing at Barcelona involved a lot of corrupt dealings on the part of then-club president Sandro Rossell, who colluded with the Brazilian’s father and agent, and a former director of Santos FC to get the move over the line.

A complaint was filed seven years ago by DIS, a company who owned 40% rights of Neymar at the time of his transfer to Barça, claiming that they had been defrauded by the player, his family and Barcelona.

The case has been dragging on for a long time now and in October, there will be a final hearing on the matter at the Barcelona Court.

El Pais has shed light on some of the details of the case and the punishment demands being made by the prosecution against Neymar and his alleged co-conspirators.

Neymar will go to trial for the corruption case on October 17, just a month before the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and as per the report, the prosecution wants the court to hand him a two-year prison sentence and a fine of €10 million.

However, DIS, the complainant want a much harsher sentence for the Brazilian superstar. They are asking the court for a five-year sentence for Neymar while also demanding that the ex-Barça star be banned from the game of football for the same duration.

The prosecution will also ask for prison sentences for two disgraced former Barça presidents in Rossell, and Josep Maria Bartomeu, who was the vice president of the club when the Neymar deal was done.