Spain’s public prosecutor has called for Barcelona’s Neymar to be jailed for two years for his part in the controversial transfer from Brazilian club Santos to the La Liga champions in 2013.
Judge José Perals also called for a five-year sentence for the former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and a fine of €8.4m (£7.1m) for the club, but called for charges against the current president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, to be dropped.
The case has its origins in a complaint made by the Brazilian investment group DIS, which owned 40% of Neymar’s transfer rights and which claims it did not receive the amount it was due as Barcelona concealed the true size of the transfer fee.
Barcelona have been mired in legal troubles over Neymar’s transfer since 2013. Rosell resigned as the club’s president in 2014 for his role in the saga and testified in court in February alongside Bartomeu, Neymar and Neymar’s father.
The club reached a deal with prosecutors in June to settle a separate case and paid a €5.5m (£4.7m) fine and avoided trial on charges of tax evasion over the transfer.
Barcelona thought they had they had heard the last of the affair when judge José de la Mata archived the case in June, although Spain’s public prosecutor managed to overturn that ruling in September.
