A Spanish court has acquitted Brazilian footballer Neymar in a fraud and corruption trial related to his 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona.
The judges decided to acquit the nine defendants who were being prosecuted in this trial, including Barcelona, former club presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, Santos and Neymar's father, the court said in a statement.
Neymar's high-profile trial got under way in mid-October in Barcelona, just a month before the start of the World Cup in Qatar where the 30-year-old – who is now at French champions Paris Saint-Germain – and Brazil crashed out after a penalty shoot-out against Croatia in the quarter finals.
Prosecutors had initially sought a two-year jail term and a €10 million ($10.5 million) fine for Neymar but in a surprise move they dropped corruption and fraud charges against all the accused. In October, prosecutor Luis Garcia Canton asked the Barcelona court to acquit all defendants as there was “not the slightest hint of a crime”.
Brazilian sports investment firm DIS, which owned 40 per cent of Neymar's sporting rights when he was at Santos, filed a lawsuit in 2015 alleging it had been defrauded during the player's transfer to Barcelona.
It claimed Neymar, Barcelona and the Brazilian club colluded to mask the true cost of his transfer thereby cheating it of its proper share of the player's transfer.
DIS also argued that it was not informed of the existence of an exclusivity contract in 2011 between Neymar and Barcelona.
But Spanish prosecutors, which initially shared DIS' view, later said the firm's allegations were not based on “evidence”.
They concluded the case was a matter for civil rather than criminal justice.
Even though prosecutors dropped their charges the case continued because the court was also considering a separate indictment filed by DIS as it is allowed by Spanish law.
DIS was seeking to recover €35 million it claims it was cheated out of.
The court verdict will give a glimmer of relief to Neymar who hinted that he might quit international football after the Croatia defeat.
"I am not closing any doors on the national team but I am also not guaranteeing 100 per cent that I will return," said Neymar, who equalled Pele's record tally of 77 goals for Brazil with a brilliant strike.
"I need to think a bit more about this, about what is the right thing for me and for the national team.
"It is an awful feeling, I think this is a worse feeling than what happened at the last World Cup. It is difficult to find the words to describe this moment."
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The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
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Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
