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Rejected any responsibility: Neymar
Photo:
Joan Mateu Parra/AP
As expected, a court in Barcelona acquitted Brazilian soccer star Neymar and all eight co-defendants on charges of corruption and fraud on Tuesday.
In October, the Spanish public prosecutor surprisingly withdrew their charges in the process, which involved irregularities in connection with the transfer of the superstar to FC Barcelona in 2013.
The court said that "no criminal offense was found".
Originally, prosecutors had asked for a two-year prison sentence and a fine of ten million euros for the Paris St. Germain attacker.
The amount that FC Barcelona paid to Neymar's former club FC Santos from Brazil is said to have been higher than initially stated.
As a result, the company DIS, which at the time owned 40 percent of the marketing rights to Neymar, lost millions.
Barcelona indicated that DIS received €6.8m and the transfer was worth €57.1m in total.
However, the public prosecutor assumed at least 83 million euros.
Neymar, who had just failed with Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar, testified on October 17 and denied any responsibility.
Neymar: "I sign what he tells me"
He merely "signed the documents" that he had received from his father.
He "always led the contract negotiations" and was "always responsible for it".
"I sign what he tells me," the 30-year-old said in court.
In addition to Neymar, his parents, former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu and six other people were also charged.
mas/AP/Reuters/sid