Neymar, Barcelona and Brasileiro side Santos "will stand trial on fraud and corruption charges over the transfer of the Brazilian forward" after their appeals were turned down by Spain's High Court on Monday, according to Adriana Garcia of REUTERS. Neymar's mother, Nadine Goncalves, and the family company, N&N, also "had appeals rejected." The High Court said in a statement, "Santos FC, Barcelona FC, Neymar, his mother Nadine Goncalves and N&N, the family company, have lost their appeals to have charges of fraud and corruption dropped." They "cannot appeal against the Court's decision." The case "stems from a complaint by Brazilian investment group DIS, which owned part of Neymar's transfer rights and alleges that it received less money than it was entitled to" (REUTERS, 2/20). The AP reported prosecutors "are seeking a two-year prison sentence" and a fine of nearly $10M for Neymar and his father on corruption charges, "although they are not likely to face any jail time if found guilty" because they would be first-time offenders. Prosecutors are also seeking a fine of about $9M from Barcelona and $7M from Santos (AP, 2/20).
ALVES RIPS BOARD: ESPN.com's Samuel Marsden reported former Barcelona player Dani Alves criticized Barcelona's board for "showing him no respect during his final three seasons with the club." Alves left Barcelona for Juventus last summer "despite having only signed a new two-year contract the year before." However, he said that he made sure that deal "had a clause written into it which would allow him to leave for free after the first year of the terms" so that he could play club President Josep Maria Bartomeu and his board "at their own game." Alves: "I like to feel wanted and if I'm not, I'll leave. Leaving Barça on a free was a classy punch. During my final three seasons I always heard that 'Alves was leaving,' but the directors never said anything to my face. They were very false and ungrateful. They did not respect me" (ESPN.com, 2/20).