Speaking a day and a half before his appearance in the Audiencia Nacional (Spanish National Court) on charges of corruption and fraud over alleged sham contracts involved in his move to Barcelona, Neymar defended himself on Globo TV. “I want to be happy out on the pitch and my father does everything so that I can just focus on playing football. He handles the business side of things. The problem is that when you see people you love suffering, like my family, then it starts to hurt. Before saying nonsense, that we evaded this or that, people should prove it”, the forward railed.
Meanwhile, Neymar Sr, who has also been summoned to testify on Tuesday together with his wife, maintained his innocence with respect to another legal case the family have found themselves embroiled in: the Brazilian public prosecutors’ investigation into the businesses set up to manage the star’s career. He described the accusations that these were unstaffed shell corporations established purely to dodge taxes as “ludicrous”: “The companies were created in 2006 when Neymar was 14, so he couldn’t have a job or own a company. I acted as his father. What’s the problem? Who starts up a company overnight with 300 or 400 employees? At that time I didn’t need much staff because it was just me handling my son’s image”.
“We’re tired of all of this and we want to clear things up as quickly as possible. Enough is enough”, Neymar Sr added.
Bron: Marca
