Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu expects the Catalan club to be paid back the €13.5 million (Dh68.2m) tax payment they made on Monday, once investigations into Neymar’s arrival at the Nou Camp have been completed.
The Brazilian’s €86.2m (Dh435.3m) signing from Santos last summer has been an endless source of controversy, with the La Liga title holders accused of deliberately understating the feethey paid to secure the winger’s services in an elaborate tax dodge.
The saga has already enforced the resignation of club president Sandro Rosell, and on Monday his successor Bartomeu sanctioned the €13.5m payment in a response to being formally charged with tax evasion by the Spanish authorities.
Bartomeu, however, continued to insist that the club had done nothing wrong, claiming it was made simply in order to “cover the possible interpretations that can be given in all contracts signed.”
He said: “We are in the right. We are convinced that the money we paid to the tax agency on Monday, in order to avoid complicating the issue further, will be returned to the club.
“FC Barcelona worked legally in the signing of Neymar. We’ve always been advised by the best lawyers.
“We have always complied with our fiscal commitments and our debt is zero.”
The case was initially taken to legal authorities by club member Jordi Cases, who has since retracted his complaint in the wake of Rosell’s resignation.
But Bartomeu made it clear Cases’ actions had hit a raw nerve as he added: “If club member Jordi Cases hadn’t brought the suit against Barca, this would not have happened.”
