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Neymar is finally a free man
December 13, 2022 18:46 IST

IMAGE: Brazil's Neymar can finally breathe easy after his acquittal from all fraud charges. Photograph: Anton Vaganov/Reuters

A Spanish court on Tuesday acquitted Brazil soccer star Neymar and other defendants in a fraud and corruption case over his 2013 transfer to Barcelona from Santos after prosecutors had dropped all charges in the high-profile trial, the court said in a statement.

The suit had been brought by Brazilian investment firm DIS, the owner of 40% of the rights to Neymar when he was at Santos. He now plays for Paris Saint-Germain.

DIS argued it had lost out on a cut from the transfer because its true value was understated and sought a five-year jail term for Neymar and a total fine of 149 million euros ($157 million) for the defendants.

In October, prosecutor Luis Garcia Canton asked the Barcelona court to acquit all defendants as there was "not the slightest hint of a crime".

Source: REUTERS
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