By Ricardo Setyon
July 21 – The on-going saga of Neymar’s transfer to Barcelona and who actually ‘owns’ Neymar has taken another twist with one of the third party owners, an investment group from Brazil, claiming they have been cheated by Neymar’s father and Barcelona.
Neymar’s ‘rights’ were owned by Santos FC, Teisa (a group of investors with 5%), Neymar’s father, and DIS, another private enterprise with 40%.
But who owns what piece of Neymar has already resulted in court action with TEISA and Santos FC taking on Barcelona FC and Neymar’s father.
Now DIS, a company that belongs to Delcir and Idi Sonda, brothers and multi-millionaire businessmen controlling shopping malls and a vast network of supermarkets, have entered the fray in what has become the most dramatic transfer in Brazilian football ever.
In a statement released in São Paulo, the CEO of DIS, Roberto Moreno, accused Neymar’s father, Barcelona FC, and its president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, the ex-president of the club, Sandro Rosell, the ex-presidents of Santos, Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro and Odilio Rodrigues, of “cheating deliberately” to disadvantage the DIS investment.
Moreno said: “We feel betrayed by the player and his father. We are victims of a lie. Barcelona lied to us, all to avoid paying us the share of the sale we are entitled to.”
Moreno continued: “We were victims of a fraud! We advised and noticed Barcelona officially, that we are entitled to a percentage of the transaction. And we were ignored. We will search for our rights in a legal way, after waiting so much. We will communicate through lawyers.”
In 2009, DIS acquired 40% of the property rights of Neymar (after he received this percentage from the club as part of a contract for him to remain at Santos FC for two more years), paying just over €2 million to the player and his father.
Moreno and the DIS executives state that Santos, Neymar and Barcelona have hidden the facts and real numbers of the deal, thus avoiding a higher payment for their shareholding.
The Neymar transfer saga has a long way to go yet. Courts in Brazil and Spain are looking at allegations of criminal activity in this transfer, while Neymar himself is under fire for his behaviour in the pitch, especially at the recently concluded Copa America, where he was red carded, and accused of abusing and pushing a referee.
The loss of Neymar’s talismanic effect on the team lead to their early exit from the tournament.
Many pundits have blamed his behaviour on extreme pressure around his transfer.
His punishment is suspension from Brazil’s next four international matches, two of them qualifying games for the 2018 World Cup. Meanwhile Neymar remains surrounded by accusations, business pressure and mistrust.
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