Josep Maria Bartomeu will appear in court on Friday to testify against charges of tax evasion relating to Neymar’s controversial transfer to Barcelona in 2013.
The Preisdent stands accused of owing the Spanish state €2.8m from the deal involving the former Santos attacker, initially thought to be worth €57.1m but later confirmed to be €86.2m after payments to the player and his family were accounted for.
The questions surrounding the move forced Sandro Rosell to step down as President in January 2014, with Bartomeu taking the reins until the next elections, which were originally scheduled for next summer but have since been brought forward.
The judge in the case, Pablo Ruz, subsequently felt there was enough evidence to investigate claims that Bartomeu failed to declare the aforementioned sum as an outstanding instalment of the transfer was due to be paid at the beginning of his tenure.
Thus, Bartomeu becomes the first Barca President in history to testify as a defendant in court, with proceedings set to begin at the National Court in Madrid on Friday morning.
After charges of tax evasion emerged last week, Bartomeu protested his innocence, suggesting that Ruz was a puppet of ‘certain powers of the state’ who had orchestrated a smear campaign against Barca on purely political grounds.
Barca have also insisted that the outstanding tax was included in the supplementary €13.5m payment made to the Treasury last November.
