Spain’s
High Court said on Friday it had reopened a fraud and corruption
investigation into Brazilian soccer player Neymar over his transfer to
Barcelona from Santos, after an appeal by the public prosecutor. A High
Court judge had initially dropped the charges in July against Neymar and
his father-cum-agent Neymar Da Silva Santos, as well as against former
Barcelona president Sandro Rossell and ex-Santos president Odilio
Rodrigues.
Both Brazilian club Santos and Barcelona have come
under fire for the way the transfer was handled in 2013, with several
investigations carried out in both countries into whether any part of
Neymar’s fee had been concealed.
Barcelona agreed in
June to pay a 5.5-million-euro ($6.17 million) fine to Spanish
authorities to settle the case and said it recognized errors in its tax
treatment of Neymar’s signing for the fiscal years of 2011 and 2013.
Neymar, who has extended his contract with Barcelona until 2021, has denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
The
case emerged after various complaints over the transfer price paid by
Barcelona to sign Neymar. A Brazilian investment group which owned part
of the player’s transfer rights said that it had received less money
than it was entitled to as Barcelona concealed the fee.
The High
Court said in its written ruling on Friday that after reviewing the case
and the decision to drop it, it believed there was evidence that
possible crimes had been committed.
