Decision on whether Neymar II trial will take place in Barcelona or Madrid set for Wednesday

The Supreme Court will decide this Wednesday whether the second trial for the signing of Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain footballer Neymar will be held at the National Court or the Provincial Court of Barcelona, as happened with the first, according to Diario Sport.

The National Court sent to Barcelona the trial against Neymar and his parents for alleged crimes of corruption and fraud in the signing of the player by Barcelona back in 2013. They believe that “deceptive criminal strategies and behaviours were deployed” in order to sign the player.

The other defendants in the case that’s become known as the Neymar II are Josep Maria Bartomeu, the resigned president of Barcelona, Sandro Rosell, his predecessor, Barcelona itself, Santos and N&N, the family company involved in the deal.

The court are taking this decision against the criteria of the Prosecutor’s Office and the same thing happened with the first case in the National Court for the signing of the player, the Neymar I case, which ended in an agreement where Barcelona paid €5.5m for two tax crimes exempting Rosell and Bartomeu.

The Prosecutor’s Office then appealed to underline why the National Court are the ones capable of judging the case given there are Spanish defendants and part of the criminal activity investigated took place in Brazil. The Public Ministry are asking for two years in prison and a €10m fine for Neymar and a five-year sentence for Rosell.

They also request two years in prison for Neymar’s father and one for his mother, both as alleged perpetrators of crimes of corruption in business, the same charged against Neymar, and a fine of €1.4m for N&N. Barcelona and Santos are being charged with fines of €8.4m and €7m respectively.