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Brazilian superstar Neymar goes on trial in Spain on Monday for alleged irregularities in his sale to Barcelona over a decade ago, with the World Cup only a month away.
The 30-year-old, who was wearing sunglasses and a dark suit, waved to the journalists as he arrived with his parents at the Barcelona Provincial Court at 9:45 a.m.
The high-profile trial concludes a years-long legal battle involving his 2013 transfer from Brazilian team Santos to Barcelona.
In 2017, Neymar moved to Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain in a world record 222 million euro ($214 million) trade.
His parents and their N&N corporation, which oversees his affairs, are among the nine defendants on trial on corruption-related accusations.
All three are charged with commercial corruption.
Investigators began looking into the move following a complaint submitted in 2015 by DIS, a Brazilian firm that owned 40% of the player’s sporting rights when he was with Santos.
Barcelona stated that the move cost 57.1 million euros, but prosecutors suspect it was closer to 83 million euros.
The club stated that it paid N&N 40 million euros and Santos 17.1 million euros, of which 6.8 million was given to DIS.
Neymar, who arrived in Barcelona just hours after scoring the game-winning goal against Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday, will testify on either October 21 or October 28, but it is unclear whether he will be required to be physically present. The trial is set to conclude on October 31.
If convicted, he faces two years in prison and a fine of ten million euros ($9.7 million).
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will testify via videoconference on Tuesday about how a secret pre-contract agreement between Barcelona and Neymar in 2011 altered the market.
“Neymar Junior cheated DIS with the complicity of his parents, FC Barcelona and its directors at the time, and Santos FC later on.”
“Neymar Junior, with the complicity of his parents and FC Barcelona and its directors at the time, and Santos FC at a later stage, defrauded DIS of its legitimate financial interests,” said DIS lawyer Paulo Nasser on Thursday.
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