Thursday, March 28

Neymar emulates Messi in court: “I signed what my father said”


Neymar Jr. and Leo Messi have shared a dressing room for years and now also the same defense strategy before the Justice: hold their respective parents responsible for the crimes of which they have been accused. This has been verified after the concise declaration of the Brazilian star this Tuesday in the trial for alleged corruption and fraud in the signing of him by FC Barcelona in 2013.

Contracts, signing bonuses and many millions: the back room of football, on trial in the Neymar case

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“I did not participate in the negotiation. My father was in charge of everything, I signed what my father told me”, has alleged the player, whom the Prosecutor asks for two years in prison. The interrogation by prosecutor Luís García Cantón was brief but sufficient for the striker to admit that his wish was to join the Barça club: “My heart always asked to go to Barça”.

These words from Neymar, who was not prevented by his heart from joining PSG in 2017, sound like the empty speeches that footballers make in their presentations, but they have their substance in a criminal case: although he has downloaded the details of the negotiations on his father , the player has ended up admitting that it was he who decided to sign for Barcelona, ​​even if it was only to fulfill his “dream”.

Will Neymar’s authorship of the crimes for which he is accused be demonstrated in this way? The court’s response remains to be seen. Leo Messi was not worth hiding behind his father and ended up convicted of tax fraud. But in the Neymar case it will be more complicated: if the accusations achieve a conviction for corruption between individuals, it would be the first for this crime in the world of football.

Neymar father exonerates the son and the woman

Like three midfielders who play by heart, the Neymar family has deployed a defense strategy in the trial consisting of holding the father, also accused, responsible for all the negotiations with Barça and Santos, and exonerating the son and mother.

Such has been the clarity of the tactic that the prosecutor has only asked Nadine Gonçalves if she participated in the negotiations on the signing. Given the negative response of the accused, the prosecutor has finished the interrogation.

More extensive has been the declaration of Neymar father, who has assumed the weight of the conversations about the incorporation of his son to Barcelona. He has admitted that he was “responsible” for N & N, the family firm to promote the player’s career, and that his wife’s position was merely “representative, not administrative.” The Prosecutor’s Office asks for two years in prison for the father and one for the mother.

Neymar Sr. has been in trouble when the prosecutor García Cantón has asked him how it was possible for the contract with Barça to go from 36 million in 2011 to 42 in 2013. “Things change and I wanted the best for my son”, has alleged.

Florentino Pérez gives few details

Before Neymar’s statement, Florentino Pérez appeared, who basically explained few details of Madrid’s interest in acquiring the player in 2011 because the negotiations were carried out by the club’s sports area. “Neymar did not come to Madrid because the players go where they want and he wanted to go to Barcelona”, added the white president.

Yes, Florentino Pérez has specified that Madrid knew that Neymar had the intention of leaving Santos and that is why he presented an offer of 45 million in 2011, the same year in which Barcelona and the family of the Brazilian star signed a pre-agreement so that the player joined the Barça club. Two years later Madrid’s offer consisted of 36 million for the player’s federative rights.



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