Brazilian sensation Neymar is in news for reasons off the field. All the controversy started when a local media report in Spain stated that young Brazilian forward of fc Barcelona was paid more amount than it was shown in the deal contract. Reason given for the misappropriation was very simple, to evade tax of the country. Spanish champions has rubbished the matter aside and promised for an internal fair inquiry of the matter. The case has now turned towards a local court which has asked both the clubs to present their point of view in the case- Barcelona (the buyer) and Santos (the seller).
The facts presented by local media hold some waters. Barcelona claims to pay €57 millions to the Brazilian. In return, Santos only received €17.1 millions. The huge difference is in the centre of the controversy.
It is widely known that in deals of foreign players, particularly Latin American players, 3rd party plays an important role. They are notorious and seldom such mismatch surfaces. In case of Neymar, supermarket chain DIS, which has 40% rights on Neymar’s image (paid € 2.8 m) wants to know why they have received the paltry sum in this huge transfer amount. Barcelona in the defence said that they paid €10 m to Neymar’s father in 2011 to stop his possible move to rival Real Madrid. If this is true then again it is against FIFA rules and guidelines issued to clubs regarding transfer of player. A company Neymar & Neymar has come up with hefty transactions related of his move.
The controversy has rocked the Catalan giants and amid this scenario their president Sandro Rosell has to resign. He is also facing the charges of hiding the terms and conditions of the contract of Neymar’s transfer. On twitter, officially Barcelona said that resignation of Rosell has nothing to do with the running controversy. Club is with the player. Coach Gerardo Martino insists that Neymar will feature in the schedule of Barca’s matches as per the desire.
The dust refuses to settle. New president Josep Maria Bartomew has promised fair enquiry. There is an ugly turn to the story as well. A huge section of fans (including Rosell) worship Messi and bigger cheque of Neymar hurts them. They regularly maintain the point that Messi should get more. Messi has always maintained that he don’t care about money. But amid such scene, he might change his mind. He is in constant chase by PSG and Manchester United. Other players like Busquest, Alexis Sanchez, Pique and Febregas (all due to sign new contract) can take a leaf out of the case and ask for more.
Barcelona is a club where fans have a huge say in club matters. It is very unlikely in English scenario where the rich owner (generally not English) has the last word in every matter. A club which was in financial troubles a decade ago is now showing a healthy balance sheet. In this period some important decisions like selling space on the club shirt was also taken (where again voice of the fans was heard). Club is ambitious in increasing the strength of stadium from 98,000 to 105,000 as per the demand of the fans.
Earlier in the summer, Bale was signed by Real Madrid in world record amount of 80 million £. Rudd Gullit asked that why Real Madrid is paying so much to a trophy less player. Economists questioned the sources of the amount the club paid. Club claimed that loan was taken from banks to pay partial amount of the deal. This mega transaction drew much criticism because much of Euro zone, like Spain, was passing through Economic recession.
Football is a huge industry. Players and coaches have regularly been paid jaw dropping amounts. In the past we have witnessed such allegations in Italian soccer where many a club went bankrupt, like Fiorentina, Parma and Siena. FIFA has recently ordered wide level enquiry in allegations related to match fixing around the world. Japanese J- League, European matches and even I League matches are under the scanner. Mumbai Tigers recently claimed that they were approached by a Singapore based punter in recent time to fix a match in life settling amount.
Role of media is increasingly deciding the fate of all the controversies related to soccer. Messi was also dragged into the tax evasion case by same media few years ago. Messi survived the heat but it could have crippled the career of a callow.
Financial transactions are getting murkier these days. Clubs are revealing an amount paid on paper and it is becoming increasingly tough to find the correct price paid with each passing month. Barcelona and Santos have totally refuted the theory. Barcelona has claimed that they have fulfilled all the legal formalities before signing the Brazilian star from Santos. The fire is refusing to douse down. Well Watson, the plot is thickening.