"I'm not a criminal" says Neymar over alleged fraud
"I didn't do anything wrong" says Neymar amid allegations that he and his father were involved in alleged fraud over the Brazilian's 2013 transfer to Barcelona
Neymar has spoken out to defend himself amid the case looking into alleged fraud committed during his 2013 transfer to FC Barcelona, affirming that neither he or his father are criminals. His comments come after it's understood that charges are now unlikely to be brought against Neymar following an agreement reached between the Catalan club and state prosecutors.
"I didn't do anything wrong"
“What punishment? I didn’t do anything wrong,” the Brazilian told ‘IstoÉ 2016’ magazine. “I’m not a criminal and neither is my dad. Unfortunately, some people look for controversy. I’m not sure if that’s because of a lack of information or understanding or just through pure malice. It doesn’t matter, and the truth is I’m sure it’ll all be resolved soon enough. My father is in charge of my matters outside of football and I’ve full confidence in him. I just worry about playing football and trying to be the best I can be on the field.” The striker made it clear that he’s “lucky” to have a “caring” father who works so that he can go about his football career in “peace.”
Alleged fraud
Prosecutors from Spain's top criminal court have accused the striker, his father, Barca's ex-president Sandro Rosell and the club itself of concealing the cost of the multi-million-euro transfer from Brazilian investment fund DIS.
DIS held 40 percent of the 24-year-old's sporting rights when he played at Brazil's Santos club and has claimed it was cheated of its real share of transfer due to parallel contracts that Barcelona and Santos allegedly used to hide the total cost.
