Neymar faces five-year jail-term request in corruption and fraud trial

Brazilian investment firm DIS wants Neymar to face a five-year prison sentence, with the footballer standing trial next week on charges of corruption and fraud relating to his 2013 transfer to Barcelona.

The investment firm believes they were owed more than they received due to their partial rights to Neymar at the time.

DIS owned 40% of the rights when the player was at Santos and the company believe they lost a substantial cut from the transfer because the true value of the deal was understated.

Neymar’s parents, Barcelona and its former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Santos and former president Odilio Rodrigues have also been named as defendants in the case.

Neymar, who is a key member of the Brazil team that will be heading to the World Cup in Qatar next month, has denied the allegations but lost an appeal in Spain’s High Court in 2017, which paved the way for the trial.

Baker McKenzie, who will be defending the PSG star and his family in the trial, told Reuters they will argue that the Spanish courts “lack jurisdiction to prosecute the Neymar family” since the transfer involved Brazilian nationals in Brazil.

“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 Baker McKenzie spokesman said.

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