Barcelona, Nov 18 (IANS) FC Barcelona’s star striker Neymar could be forced to leave the Spanish club due to his ongoing tax fraud case, according to the Brazilian’s father Neymar da Silva Santos.
A Brazilian court has frozen 31.3 million pounds ($47.6 million) worth of assets belonging to the Barcelona forward, his family and related businesses. The 23-year-old is alleged to have evaded 10.5 million pounds ($15.9 million) in Brazil taxes between 2011 and 2013.
Neymar is in talks with the Spanish champions over a new deal but the player’s father warned that the current investigations could jeopardise his future.
“We are talking about renewal but we need to solve some things. We need to know if Spain accepts our situation. It’s hard for us because we are receiving many attacks, from Brazil and from Spain. Neymar is a star and works his image here and from Brazil,” Neymar’s father was quoted as saying by Spanish radio Cadena SER on Tuesday.
“We’re talking to everyone to know what to do with this matter because we don’t want to be in Spain two, three, four, five or ten years and then we are caught by surprise by saying that our structure is wrong. We need to know if things are right for us,” he said.
The Brazil national side skipper’s father further added, “We never had such big fiscal problems in Brazil. After arriving Spain the attacks began and the attacks have now spread to Brazil. We will respect the contract he has with the club but we don’t want a renewal without peace of mind.”
