Barcelona FC, the prosecutor and the tax authorities have reached an agreement by which Barca admitted two tax offences in the signing of Brazilian striker Neymar da Silva and agreed to pay a fine of 5.5 million euros ($6.2 million).
Judicial sources told that the agreement also includes exonerating Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and former president Sandro Rosell.
Prosecutor had asked for prison terms of over two years for current president and over seven years for the former president.
The settlement must be ratified by the board of Barcelona, which will hold a special meeting for this purpose later on Friday.
Barca admitted having committed a tax offense in 2011, when it paid to N&N, the company of Neymar’s father, 10 million euros ($11.2 million) to clinch the player’s rights in 2014, and another offence in 2013, when it paid the same company 40 million ($45 million) to sign the player one year ahead of schedule.
In these two contracts, Barca defrauded 9.3 million euros ($10.5 million), according to the tax authorities, which considers both payments should have been declared as part of the player’s salary.
