Speaking a day and a half before his appearance in the Spanish National Court on charges of corruption and fraud "over alleged sham contracts involved in his move to Barcelona," Neymar defended himself, according to MARCA. He said, "I want to be happy out on the pitch and my father does everything so that I can just focus on playing football. He handles the business side of things. The problem is that when you see people you love suffering, like my family, then it starts to hurt. Before saying nonsense, that we evaded this or that, people should prove it." Meanwhile, Neymar Sr., who has also been summoned to testify on Tuesday together with his wife, "maintained his innocence with respect to another legal case the family have found themselves embroiled in: the Brazilian public prosecutors' investigation into the businesses set up to manage" Neymar's career. Neymar Sr.: "We're tired of all of this and we want to clear things up as quickly as possible. Enough is enough" (MARCA, 2/1). MARCA reported in a separate piece club President Josep Maria Bartomeu and former President Sandro Rosell "refused to testify about Barcelona's signing of Neymar during their appearance at the National Court." Both "simply referred to the version of events they gave during a hearing concerning the transfer last year" (MARCA, 2/1).
PASSPORT PROBE: The AP's Joseph Wilson reported a Spanish court is investigating the alleged use of false passports by American basketball players Marcus Slaughter and Andy Panko, who played for Spanish Basketball League (ACB) clubs Real Madrid and Fuenlabrada, respectively, last season. Both players "allegedly used false passports issued by Equatorial Guinea in order to give their respective teams the ability to add another non-European player" to their rosters. Due to a competition rule which allows players from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to count as Europeans, "both sides then freed up one additional spot." Real Madrid won both the Spanish league and cup along with the Euroleague title. ACB rival Barcelona issued a statement on Monday saying it will ask the court for it to be considered as an "aggrieved party." Barcelona lost the Spanish league and cup finals to Real Madrid last season. ACB spokesperson Mario Hernando and Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD) confirmed on Monday that a Madrid court "is looking into the case." Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) spokesperson Jordi Roman said that the FEB "alerted the league when it found that the numbers on Slaughter's and Panko's passports from Equatorial Guinea matched up." The CSD said that "any possibly penalties will depend on the development of the investigation." Real Madrid "did not immediately respond to calls and emails" (AP, 2/1).
