The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, will appear as a witness in the trial for the crimes of corruption in business and fraud in the signing of striker Neymar da Silva for FC Barcelona, in which former Barça president Sandro Rosell is accused, among others and the Brazilian player himself.
Pérez is one of the eighteen witnesses of the oral trial that will begin on October 17, in the Sixth Section of the Barcelona Court, and in which the Brazilian fund DIS and the Federation of Associations of Professional Athletes of Brazil will appear as private accusations (FAAP).
According to the court order, the head of the Madrid entity is summoned to testify on October 18, on the second day of the trial, after DIS has proposed him as a witness.
The Public Prosecutor's Office requests 5 years in prison and a 10 million euro fine for Rosell, for corruption and fraud, and 2 years in prison and another 10 million fine for Neymar, for corruption in the transfer operation. On the other hand, it exonerates the former president of the Barça entity Josep Maria Bartomeu, vice president when the events occurred and who also appears as a defendant in the case.
The Prosecutor's Office understands that, in his case, despite signing the allegedly fraudulent contracts to sign the Santos striker between 2011 and 2013, he was not an active part of the negotiations. However, and although Barcelona ended up disbursing 25.17 million to Santos for the player's rights and another 60 for various concepts to the family business run by Neymar's father (N
In the documentary evidence, DIS will also provide the interview that Florentino Pérez granted to the laSexta program 'Jugones', on February 3, 2016, and in which he assured that, by paying all the rights holders, the signing of Neymar, which was also claimed by Real Madrid, amounted to 150 million euros.
The Brazilian fund now claims compensation for damages of 150 million euros, 5 years in prison for the player and another 8 years in prison for Rosell and Bartomeu. Likewise, the FAAP considers that, in that allegedly fraudulent operation between Barcelona and Santos, their rights, established for social purposes and consisting of a small percentage of the transfer rights, were also violated.
In addition to Neymar, Rosell and Bartomeu, the player's father and mother are accused, for whom the prosecution asks for 2 years and 1 year in prison for two separate crimes of corruption in business, respectively, and the former manager of Santos Odilio Rodrígues, for the asking for 3 years in prison for the crime of fraud. Three legal entities will also be tried for their participation in the case: FC Barcelona, Santos FC and N
The transfer of Neymar has been going through a legal process for years, with several open fronts that have caused numerous legal and financial problems for FC Barcelona.
In 2016, the Catalan entity already agreed to pay 5.5 million euros for two tax crimes, in a consent sentence that made Barça the first football team convicted as a legal entity. That pact with the Prosecutor's Office allowed the then president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and his predecessor, Sandro Rosell, to be exonerated from criminal liability.
