Neymar breathes a sigh of relief: the Brazilian footballer will no longer be prosecuted for possible cheating when he joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013. Spanish prosecutors have dropped all charges against the attacker, who faces a two-year prison sentence with a 10 million euro fine hanging his head.

Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017 for €222m but had been acquired by the Spanish club from Brazilian Santos four years earlier. A court in Barcelona has been dealing with this move, which was suspected of being fraudulent, since last week.

40 percent broadcasting rights

An investment company that owned 40 percent of Neymar’s transfer rights at the time claimed that Barcelona and the Neymar camp made a mistake on the transfer fee.

Another tens of millions would have been transferred to a company owned by the player’s father. With this direct transfer, the capital investment company would have missed the agreed percentage.

In addition to the star footballer, his parents, their company N&N and former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu have also been charged. All charges against her were also dropped.

Neymar explained last week that he was not involved in the negotiations during the process. “My dad always did and still does. I sign everything he tells me,” said the 30-year-old Brazilian, who has been the world’s most expensive footballer since 2017. “It was always my dream to play football for Barcelona.”