Barcelona star Neymar arrived at Spain’s National Court yesterday to give evidence in the murky case of the deal which brought the Brazilian to the Catalan giants from Santos in 2013.
Sporting jeans and sunglasses, Neymar was accompanied by his father who has also been called to give evidence to a judge over a complaint of fraud and corruption by Brazilian investment fund DIS, which held 40 percent of the footballer’s sporting rights when he played at Santos. DIS has claimed it was cheated of its real share of the benefits of the 23-year-old’s multi-million-euro transfer because part of the fee was concealed by Barcelona and Santos.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor Sandro Rosell were also called to give evidence on Monday, but they refused to testify, insisting instead on the version of events they had given for a previous hearing.
The transfer deal was originally valued at 57.1 million euros ($62.2 million) by Barca, 40 million of which was paid to the N&N company owned by the player’s father with Santos receiving just 17.1 million.
However, Spanish judicial authorities have estimated the number of simultaneous deals in the transfer amounted to at least 83.3 million.  
A representative of Brazilian club Santos said they felt cheated by Neymar and his father after details of the football star’s transfer to Barcelona emerged.
Appearing before the judge, Fatima Cristina Bonassa, representing the club where the player started his career, said the Brazilian striker was an adult at the time of transfer and knew what he was signing.
Bonassa was heard for five hours by Judge José de la Mata over alleged irregularities in Neymar’s transfer. Bonassa pointed out that Brazilian law allows players to choose their transfer club, and that Neymar had insisted on going to the Spanish side. It was only after learning the amount that the club had actually paid for the striker that Santos understood his insistence of signing for the Catalan giants, she claimed.
Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique insisted that Neymar’s judicial woes were having a limited impact on his performance.
“From zero to one million, it effects him at 0.000001%. There is no comment to make, it has nothing to do with football, this is an issue that will be resolved as it should be,” he said.