Josep Bartomeu and Neymar face potential prison sentence

A bombshell report from El Confidential has once again offered some light on Barcelona’s complicated deal for Neymar in 2013 that is causing headaches to the club to this very day.

The crux of the report suggests Santos are in a great deal of trouble, for reportedly avoiding tax payments. They are subjected to pay €2.7 million to the treasury for the transfer of their star forward in 2013.

Former Barcelona presidents Josep Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell have been accused of fraud in the process. They have been held responsible for drawing out a series of agreements with Santos, which catered for the Brazilian club and helped them gain significant financial quirks.

Santos, who had only 55% of the transfer rights of Neymar, had earned only €9.4 million of the €17 million Barcelona officially paid for the player. The remainder of the fees were received by Brazilian company DIS (40%) while another 5% was owned by a company called Teisa.

The alleged deceptions committed in the deal suggest that the Barça bosses had worked with Santos to pay an additional fee for Neymar, without the knowledge of either DIS or Teisa.

For example, Barça were liable to pay €2 million for Neymar’s nomination for FIFA World Player and an additional €4.5 million for a friendly match that was never played.

Barça offered almost €8 million through other means, helping Santos rake in a total of around €23 million, without the knowledge of the other two private entities.

The Prosecutor’s Office has also accused Neymar’s family of corruption and charged a €10 million fee, along with a two-year prison sentence. As for Barcelona, a fine of €8.4 million could be imposed.

Although every legal entity involved in this case has denied such allegations, each of them could be forced to court, with the case likely to be settled just a month before the 2022 FIFA World Cup gets underway.