Neymar insists 'nothing illegal' in Barcelona move amid investigation

Dempsey

Country of origin has nothing to do with it. if it was a smaller club, that didnt represent such a large % of the market pool for uefa's flagship competition then you'd see their teeth, e.g. Malaga.

Man City did some creative accounting with sponsorship contracts and all uefa did was twiddle their thumbs.

DoctorGonzo08

Dempsey wrote: »

Country of origin has nothing to do with it. if it was a smaller club, that didnt represent such a large % of the market pool for uefa's flagship competition then you'd see their teeth, e.g. Malaga.

Man City did some creative accounting with sponsorship contracts and all uefa did was twiddle their thumbs.

I was only using English clubs as an example, however I wasn't saying it was a vendetta against those clubs only. Italy have seen sanctions imposed on them, Juve in particular. What I was saying is Barca are probably the least likely club to incur a punishment.

There was nothing wrong with what City did with their sponsorship contracts, and UEFA launched a full investigation into it, with Platini himself speaking out against it. In the end the findings were, while clever, it was all within the laws set by UEFA. It can also be noted at no time did City offer a bung a several million to 'prove' their innocence.

Dempsey

Man City didnt break any rules but what they did flies in the face of the spirit of the financial fair play rules. Its not like the FFP is full of loopholes....

Not many clubs can get sponsors to willingly offer overvalued contracts. In future, its how all the top clubs will circumvent FFP tbh but it doesnt make it right for the future of football.

DoctorGonzo08

Dempsey wrote: »

Man City didnt break any rules but what they did flies in the face of the spirit of the financial fair play rules. Its not like the FFP is full of loopholes....

Not many clubs can get sponsors to willingly offer overvalued contracts. In future, its how all the top clubs will circumvent FFP tbh but it doesnt make it right for the future of football.

That's all true, but there is an argument for how would any other team compete with those that had the monopoly on money? It may not be fair on those teams who didn't recieve financial backing but for the other top teams to cry about may look at themselves. Despite the fact that many may find Citys sponsor deals unfair it was still legal and subject to the scrutany of UEFA. Barca in this case may have done something hugely illegal and will not be open to investigation? That reeks of bias and is genuinely unfair to any other club. Financial backing and blatant cheating are two very different things!

Harry Palmr

Big House Bump!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/may/04/neymar-trial-fraud-barcelona-santos

Neymar and his parents are to stand trial over alleged fraud and corruption. In addition, the Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and his predecessor Sandro Rosell will go on trial for alleged fraud and corruption over Neymar’s transfer from Santos in 2013.The two clubs were also ordered to stand trial. All have denied wrongdoing.

Spanish prosecutors have recommended Neymar be handed a two-year jail sentence and fined €10m. Sentences of two years or less are usually suspended for first-time offenders in Spain. However, Neymar could be banned from playing during a judicial sentence.

Turtwig

Other players with 2 years sentences did not get banned from playing. So I don't think Neymar will be banned from playing either. Still if he's found guilty a ban would not be amiss.