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Brazil star Neymar, who plays his club football at French champions Paris Saint-Germain, appeared in court on October 17 and 18 in Spain to resolve a decade-old dispute regarding his transfer to La Liga giants Barcelona.
Neymar, then just 21 years old, moved from his childhood side Santos to one of the biggest clubs in the world for a massive €86.2 million. However, the fee was originally claimed by Barca to be €57.1m, prompting allegations of wrongdoing.
As a result, Neymar testified in court over his alleged role in the proceedings, along with a number of other officials involved in the transfer. The case is being heard just two months ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, where Brazil are considered one of the favourites to win the tournament.
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Why is Neymar in court?
Neymar and eight other defendants are on trial over fraud and corruption charges relating to his 2013 t messi psg shirt ransfer from Brazilian club Santos to Barcelona.
The charges stem from a complaint brought forward in June by Brazilian investment firm DIS, which is led by Brazilian supermarket magnate Delcir Sonda. According to the lawsuit, Sonda fronted Neymar and his family millions of dollars as an investment into Neymar's future, and was never fairly compensated.
Bec leo messi barcelona jersey ause of that initial investment, DIS owned 40% of Neymar's rights. The lawsuit alleges that Barcelona paid Neymar's family €40 psg jersey price million in 2011 to secure a future transfer when his messi 30 barcelona jersey contract expired in 2014. That transfer eventually came to pass in the summer of 2013, a year earlier than initially planned.
DIS is arguing that it lost out on money owed as part of this deal because the transfer was undervalued.
The other defendants include Neymar's parents, both clubs, former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and former Santos president Odilio Rodrigues. Neymar's father, Neymar Sr., has served as Neymar's agent throughout his career.
All the defendants deny wrongdoing.
What has Neymar said about his court case?
On Tuesday, Neymar spoke in court about the 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona. Neymar was not required to testify in the case but chose to do so, answering questions from both the prosecution and his own lawyers.
The 30-year-old said that he was not involved in transfer negotiations and never has been throughout his career.
"I didn't participate in the negotiations. My father always took care of it and always will. I sign everything he tells me to sign," Neymar told the court in Barcelona. "Playing for Barcelona was always my dream, a childhood dream."
Neymar's lawyers have publicly stated the messi 30 shirt y will argue that the Spanish courts "lack jurisdiction to prose psg shirt girl cute the Neymar family" since the parties involved are Brazilian i psg shirt pink ndividuals as well as a Brazilian club.
They are also arguing that free market competition psg messi jersey kids 10-12 rules do not apply to transfers, since players have free will to choose their next club on reasons that are not always based on monetary value.
"The rules of free competition do not operate since the transfer from one club to another depends on the free will of the player," a spokesperson for Neymar's lawyer, Baker McKenzie, said to Reuters.
This is a direct response to the DIS allegation that they were defrauded out of millions of euros because of a secret deal between Neymar and Barcelona that eliminated competition for his signature. "Neymar's rights have not been sold to the highest bidder. There were clubs that offered up to 60 million euros," DIS lawyer Paulo Nasser told a news conference in Barcelona on Thursday.
Neymar's lawyers argue that competition rules relate to products and services and do not apply to the transfer market.
Could Neymar go to jail over fraud charges?
In their court complaint, DIS is requesting a two-year jail term for Neymar as well as a €10m fine.
However, according to a New York Times profile of DIS chief Delcir Sonda, the company is not actually interested in a jail term for Neymar, but rather simply revealing what happened.
"Sonda doesn't really need the money, he admitted, and he doesn't particularly seem to care if Neymar and his parents wind up in jail, or if the trial disrupts Brazil's run-up to the World Cup," wrote Tariq Panja of the New York Times. "All he wants, he said in an interview in his office h psg goalkeeper away kit igh above Sao Paulo, is the truth."
Neymar lost his appeal in 2016, during which he claimed not to know Sonda while speaking at a preliminary hearing. Sonda says he has received multiple offers from Barcelona for financial compensation to end the case, but has rebuffed their efforts.
"I could have accepted their money, but it's not important," Sonda said to the New York Times. "I need to know what happened," he added, referring to the alleged secret deal between Barcelona and Santos.
Prosecutors are also seeking fines and custodial sentences for Rosell and Bartomeu, and prison terms for Rodrigues an psg shirts all seasons d Neymar's parents.