Neymar: “If people want to tell stories they should prove them”

Hours before Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell were due to speak in High Court, and on the eve of his own court date in Madrid, Neymar and his father sat down with Brazilian Globo TV to give their story. The Barcelona forward said: “I want to be happy out on the pitch and my dad does everything to ensure I can just focus on my football. He handles the books. The problem comes when you start seeing someone you love being made to suffer. That hurts. Before people start telling lies and claiming we tried to avoid this or that, they should prove it”.

Neymar Sr. also gave his version of events: “If this lawyer is looking to make a name of himself, then he will. We’ve had enough of all this and want to clear things up as soon as possible”. The interviewer also quizzed the player’s father on the charges relating to the three companies set up to manage the super star’s career: Neymar Sport e Marketing, N&N Consultoría and N&N Administracao. Neymar’s parents founded the three businesses, for which only two employees were hired, while working as security guards. The player’s father explained to Globo TV that a big company wasn’t needed at the time to manage his son’s image. “The companies were founded in 2006. He was 14 at the time. He was too young to have a job and couldn’t set up any old business. I was the father so what’s the big problem? Who is able to start a business from one day to the next and hire 300 or 400 employees? At the time we didn’t need many employees as there was only one venture to take care of. All I could do was manage my son’s image”.

Neymar Sr. was also asked about whether the €40 million that wasn’t included in his son’s transfer fee were categorised as a bonus or as part of the player’s salary: “That’s between Santos and Barcelona. The judge is going to want to know the transfer details”.