Spanish prosecutors drop fraud and corruption charges against Neymar

Prosecutors in Spain have dropped corruption and fraud charges against Neymar.

The Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil star was one of several people accused of the charges in a trial relating to his move from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.

Other defendants in the case included Neymar’s parents, the two clubs involved in the deal, former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, along with ex-Santos president Odilio Rodrigues.

The prosecution had been seeking jail time of two years for Neymar, in addition to a fine of €10million, but withdrew all charges on Friday.

Investment firm DIS, which owned 40 per cent of the Brazilian’s rights when he was still at Santos, alleged it had missed out on money from the deal as the value had been understated.

Barcelona agreed a deal with Neymar in 2011 to sign him two years later for an overall fee of €57.1m, with €40m of that going to the player and his family, meaning DIS only received a percentage of the remaining €17.1m that went to Santos as the selling club.

DIS argued the deal was undervalued, with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez appearing as a witness in court via videolink and revealing Madrid had made offers of €45m in 2011 and €36m in 2013 to sign Neymar, but he chose to join Barca.

The alleged offence which Neymar and his family was accused of is not punishable in Brazil.

Neymar had always denied the allegations, stating last week he had not been a part of negotiations regarding his transfer to the LaLiga giants.