An obvious case of corruption and tax fraud

Santos say they were paid only €17.1m, the Catalans claim they spent €57m on the Brazilian. And nobody wants to explain where the rest ended up...


It has been described as the least transparent transfer in the history of football. Neymar's sensational move from Santos to Barcelona remains, some seven months later, about as clear as mud.

How much did he cost? Who got what? Where did the money go? Were there additional payments? The official figure released by Barcelona is €57 million, yet Santos say they only received €17.1m, third-party owners are annoyed by feeling short-changed and then there's an unusual first-option payment for three of the Brazilian side's youngsters, plus a couple of friendly fixtures between the two teams thrown in for good measure.

Deals involving South American sides and third-party ownership are always complicated. Nothing new there; even going back to the days of Diego Maradona, such deals took time, intense negotiations and plenty of patience as the money is dished out to all of the parties involved.

The real cost of this transfer, including the three Santos starlets who will probably never end up at the Catalan club (Victor Andrade, Gabriel Barbosa and Giva), plus the two friendly fixtures, means the total transfer fee alone for the Neymar deal could stand at around €69.5m, not €57m.
Meanwhile, supermarket chain DIS - who paid €2.8m for 40 per cent of Neymar's rights some years ago - want to know what they are owed. According to Santos, the fee was €17.1m (meaning DIS take €6.84m), but Barca's claim that the deal cost €57m means the supermarket chain would be entitled to €22.8m and even €27.8m if the three young players and two friendlies are included (which, of course, they weren't - not officially anyway).

A source close to the deal in Brazil claims Santos and Barca agreed an unusual structure for the cash to be paid. "Santos believe they are owed money by DIS (something DIS are thought to dispute) and the relationship is anything but good. They decided, along with Barcelona, for the money to be paid in different concepts and therefore reduced the amount owed to DIS."

That explains how Santos may have recouped extra funds from the deal, but still leaves the question of the remaining €40m. DIS received none of that, either, with just a quarter of it accounted for by Barca. The club revealed paying an initial €10m payment to Neymar's father in 2012 to ensure the player would ultimately choose the Catalans and not rivals Real Madrid. That figure appeared in Barca's accounts for last year and was confirmed by vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu on the day of Neymar's unveiling at Camp Nou back in June. "Negotiations with Santos began back in 2011," he said. "And that's why there is, in last year's budget, a payment of €10m, as a contingency fund."

Santos claim Neymar's father did not take that €10m, yet the club cannot explain where the money did go.

But what about the other €30m? That money was never seen by Santos, nor DIS. "We saw on the television that Barca said the deal was €57m but here [in Brazil], Santos speak of €17m. We feel cheated," said DIS CEO Roberto Moreno in a radio interview in the summer.

DIS is also unhappy about the €10m down-payment made by the Catalan club. "Barca admitted making a previous payment of €10m when Neymar was at Santos," Moreno added. "And that, in Fifa regulations, is seen as a serious infringement when a player is under contract with another club."

The other key claim is that Neymar's father - and his company N&N - may have pocketed the entire €40m. "We paid €17.5m (sic) to Santos and €40m to an association who owned the rights to Neymar," Barca president Sandro Rosell said last week, but the Catalans' chief refused to elaborate on those figures.

Rosell has been reported by Barca socio Jordi Cases for "inappropriate use" of club funds. Cases, who had hoped to go ahead with a censure motion against Rosell but was forced to scrap that plan due to the difficulty of finding sufficient support from fellow socios, says he and others have a right to know how that money was spent. "I would say that in no circumstances should such an important payment as €40m be concealed. As a socio and co-owner of our beloved club, I should have the right to know under which concept those €40m were paid out."
Cases, like many others, also believes the €40m may have been paid to Neymar and his father in the form of a signing-on fee or as wages not included in the official figures. And if that were the case, Barcelona could be liable to pay tax on those funds, propelling the total cost of the transfer fee to in excess of €100m. "If that €40m was a hidden salary for the player, those monies should have been declared to Hacienda [the Spanish tax office]," he said. "And that would have taken the cost of the signing to over €100m."

Including Neymar's (official) wages over five years, plus the fee, the total outlay stands at €124m by Barcelona as it is. Seven months after the deal was closed, however, it remains unclear just where a lot of that money ended up - and whether the Catalan club should in fact have paid more for their brilliant Brazilian in the form of taxes. Just like the forward bamboozles defenders in La Liga, the riddle of his transfer is proving similarly enigmatic.

futbol wrote:Typical case of sign-on bonus for the player as happens with every player who is on the last year of his contract.

sportsczy wrote:there's 40 mil "missing" from the books of Barca.

futbol wrote:And where do you see that taxes aren't being paid? I'm sure the 500 lawyers of FC Barcelona can see this too if Babun from GL can. The most obvious workaround is that Neymar is on 7 + 8 (* 5 year contract = € 40M) = € 15M wages which are being taxed. Only reason they don't reveal this is because it makes him the highest paid player in the Barca squad.

sportsczy wrote:there's 40 mil "missing" from the books of Barca.

No, there isn't.

futbol wrote:Logic.

FC Barcelona will pay a total of 57 million euros for the Brazilian star, which will be distributed among three companies (DISC, TEISA, N&N) and Santos FC, Neymar’s old Club. The companies have asked FC Barcelona to keep the percentages of the transfer sum allocated to each entity confidential.

third-party owners are annoyed by feeling short-changed and then there's an unusual first-option payment for three of the Brazilian side's youngsters, plus a couple of friendly fixtures between the two teams thrown in for good measure

farfan wrote:why would nerman take more money  than the club and third party owners ?  did he own a % of his rights?

Lex wrote:

third-party owners are annoyed by feeling short-changed and then there's an unusual first-option payment for three of the Brazilian side's youngsters, plus a couple of friendly fixtures between the two teams thrown in for good measure

wtf is this  Why can't a transfer just be simple and easy.

3rd party owners, first dibs on youth  Do Barca players get to cut in line at the catering facilities at Santos too?

sportsczy wrote:The issue here is that Rosell has to tell the socios... Barca is a public entity.  If you don't represent an amount, it's fraud.  That's the core of the issue here...  there's 40 mil "missing" from the books of Barca.

zizzle wrote:

Lex wrote:

third-party owners are annoyed by feeling short-changed and then there's an unusual first-option payment for three of the Brazilian side's youngsters, plus a couple of friendly fixtures between the two teams thrown in for good measure

wtf is this  Why can't a transfer just be simple and easy.

3rd party owners, first dibs on youth  Do Barca players get to cut in line at the catering facilities at Santos too?

That is Santon's way of reducing the transfer fee and screw the third parties. I'm not sure how much Barca paid for the first options but the friendly games are worth a few millions at least.

harhar11 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:The issue here is that Rosell has to tell the socios... Barca is a public entity.  If you don't represent an amount, it's fraud.  That's the core of the issue here...  there's 40 mil "missing" from the books of Barca.

Out of topic, but then shouldn't Real Madrid do the same with Bale? I mean, IIRC, to this day Real Madrid have not revealed what they payes for Bale and they are also a public entity.

Needless to say, I dont understand why Barca and Real Madrid have to hide what they really payed for Neymar and Bale if they have not done anything illegal.

harhar11 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:The issue here is that Rosell has to tell the socios... Barca is a public entity.  If you don't represent an amount, it's fraud.  That's the core of the issue here...  there's 40 mil "missing" from the books of Barca.

Out of topic, but then shouldn't Real Madrid do the same with Bale? I mean, IIRC, to this day Real Madrid have not revealed what they payes for Bale and they are also a public entity.

Needless to say, I dont understand why Barca and Real Madrid have to hide what they really payed for Neymar and Bale if they have not done anything illegal.

sportsczy wrote:

harhar11 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:The issue here is that Rosell has to tell the socios... Barca is a public entity.  If you don't represent an amount, it's fraud.  That's the core of the issue here...  there's 40 mil "missing" from the books of Barca.

Out of topic, but then shouldn't Real Madrid do the same with Bale? I mean, IIRC, to this day Real Madrid have not revealed what they payes for Bale and they are also a public entity.

Needless to say, I dont understand why Barca and Real Madrid have to hide what they really payed for Neymar and Bale if they have not done anything illegal.

 A Barca socio brought the case to justice regarding Neymar... there is no socio complaint regarding the Bale deal.  Also, the Bale deal is reported at 90+ mil per Madrid and UK media are saying 100.  At most, you're looking at maybe a 10 mil discrepancy.  In Barca's case, the discrepancy is 40 mil..

harhar11 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:

harhar11 wrote:

Out of topic, but then shouldn't Real Madrid do the same with Bale? I mean, IIRC, to this day Real Madrid have not revealed what they payes for Bale and they are also a public entity.

Needless to say, I dont understand why Barca and Real Madrid have to hide what they really payed for Neymar and Bale if they have not done anything illegal.

 A Barca socio brought the case to justice regarding Neymar... there is no socio complaint regarding the Bale deal.  Also, the Bale deal is reported at 90+ mil per Madrid and UK media are saying 100.  At most, you're looking at maybe a 10 mil discrepancy.  In Barca's case, the discrepancy is 40 mil..

There is no discrepancy in the Neymar deal. We know that Barca payed a total of 57m, and from that amount only 17m went to santos + the company that own a % of his image. What we do not know is where the rest 40m went and thats why the member is suing the directors.

Anyway, my point was that what you just said regarding barca being a public entity and having to reveal the price of every player they sign, it can be said about Real Madrid aswell, but they themselves have not revealed what they paid for Bale.