In Court, Neymar Denies Wrongdoing Over Barcelona Transfer

Neymar only signed documents his father gave him and did nothing illegal, the Brazil superstar told a Spanish court Tuesday where he is on trial for alleged irregularities over his transfer to Barcelona nearly a decade ago. "My father has always been in charge" of contract negotiations, the 30-year-old told the Barcelona court hearing the case. "I sign what he tells me to."

The trial is the culmination of a years-long legal saga over his 2013 transfer, with Neymar one of nine defendants in the dock on corruption-related charges, among them his parents and their N&N company, which manages his affairs. The proceedings began barely a month before the November 20 start of the World Cup, at which Neymar is expected to play a key role for Brazil.

Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, the footballer said he didn't remember if he participated in talks leading to a pre-contract deal with Barcelona in 2011 ahead of his transfer two years later from the Brazilian club Santos.

He said he had always dreamed of playing for Barca so he had prioritised their offer over that of other clubs, such as Real Madrid. "Neymar never takes part in the negotiations," his father Neymar Da Silva Santos told the court.

If convicted, prosecutors have called for a two-year jail term and a 10-million-euro ($9.7 million) fine for the footballer who since 2017 has played for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Prison terms of two years or less are never enforced in Spain for a first-time offender.

Complicity to defraud

Investigators began probing the transfer after a 2015 complaint filed by DIS, a Brazilian company that owned 40 percent of the player's sporting rights when he was at Santos. The firm claims that Neymar, Barcelona and the Brazilian club colluded