February 25 – Barcelona have paid €13.5 million to the Spanish authorities after being charged with tax fraud over the much-publicised signing of Neymar which partly led to the resignation of former Barca president Sandro Rosell.
The Spanish champions insisted, however, they had not committed any tax offence and that the payment had been made due to a “possible difference of interpretation” about the amount they owed after signing Neymar from Santos last summer.
“The aim is to cover eventual interpretations that could be given to the contracts drawn up in the operation to sign Neymar,” the club said.
It was not immediately clear whether the payment means the fraud charges recently laid down by a Madrid court will be dropped after a Barca club member filed a complaint against Rosell alleging misappropriation of funds.
Rosell’s successor Josep Bartomeu said Barca would fight to defend themselves “because we are in the right”.
“It is very strange,” he said. “Everything is going very fast and we do not know why. The Barca members should be satisfied with what we have explained, it is the truth.”
In a statement on its website, the club added: “As we have done so far, the club will continue to give maximum collaboration to the law courts in order to clarify the facts of the case. The board again insists that in relation to this signing, the club has scrupulously fulfilled its fiscal obligations in line with its awareness at the time of the contracts and agreements signed in good faith. The board denies the existence of any tax-related crime in relation to the fiscal obligations arising from the signing of the player.”
Rosell, who denied any wrongdoing, stepped down saying he wanted to clear his name and protect the club’s image. But when details of Neymar’s signing came to light the judge overseeing the case granted the prosecutor’s request to lay charges for tax fraud.
After Rosell’s exit, Barca admitted Neymar had cost €86.2 million, including payments to the player and his family, and not €57.1 million as they had originally reported.
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