When thousands of Barcelona fans trooped out to Camp Nou, their arms aloft, necks girded with the club’s mufflers and scarves and, their torsos protected from the elements with the iconic blue and scarlet - or the newer Catalan flag inspired yellow and scarlet - jerseys to look their beloved new player, Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, unveiled this summer, little did they know that 6 months on, the deal that took him from his native Brazil to Spain would cast a dark cloud on the transfer dealings of Sandro Rosell and the club.
While Neymar may have turned out to be a good piece of transfer business on the field of play; his dazzling and mesmerizing display helping Barca to stay on top of the La Liga table for a record breaking, the tone and flavor of his transfer off the pitch, has decidedly taken a turn for the worst.
And, it may get messier as a Spanish court is set to investigate the deal.
Just maybe – a big fat maybe - Gareth Bale of Real Madrid is not the most expensive player ever but whatever it is, Sandro Rossell has stepped down amid all the allegations of misappropriation of funds with the Neymar deal, which at present and without a judicial verdict, Rossell was said to have hidden under many false contracts.
An emergency board meeting was quickly organized last Thursday where it emerged that there were some truths to the story. Given the ongoing investigations and what might be uncovered, Barcelona might have to prepare for a long, costly and perhaps messy battle in the civil courts.
Just like Bernie Ecclestone and the fogginess of his dealings with the shares of F1, the Rosell Debacle might do more harm than good to a global brand.
Barcelona's love for Neymar was perhaps one of the most open-secret lore in the history of Spanish football. A tale that pitched it against its greatest rival, Real Madrid, saw the two sole superpowers of Spain's La Liga courting the global youngster who excelled for his Brazilian club, Santos, week in and week out and excelled, exceptionally, at the 2013 Confederations Cup.
It was inevitable, consequently, that a big-money transfer to the riches of European league will be on the cards. Barcelona was the winner in the chase.
Or, so it was initially thought!
Barcelona in the summer announced a deal of 57m Euros (47m Pounds) with Neymar’s Brazilian club, Santos, for the signature of their superstar. But the real cost of the star player may have been higher than the official amount quoted.
How does a club as prestigious as Barcelona soil its hands by orchestrating crooked deals and thereby breaking the law? Given that it could have stated the real cost of acquiring the services of the young man, why did they under-report? Is it to stay within the confines of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play?
Or, was something more disingenuous, like the Spanish investigators allege, at play?
The legal implications of the Rosell Debacle is very enormous for Barcelona - an ugly situation that may be the beginning of a long battle in the civil courts and the club could also suffer from the damage it may do to its brand.
Not to even mention a potential 2-year ban from European competitions; a 4-year ban for Sandro Rosell together alongside any other person who is indicted and, alarmingly for Barca fans, their darling club could even be docked 22 points.
The investigation will concern itself with some gray areas in the Neymar contract where Barcelona allegedly paid fees listed as either scouting young talents in Santos or helping Sao Paulo favela’s children.
Alas, those investments were as crooked a lie as any other.
Both fees were found to have been directly made to Neymar’s father thereby, saving millions of dollars in payable taxes, transfer money and wages.
The total money paid out may have been in the region of $129m.
With Neymar reported to be earning about €7m a year, if the €60m he got with his father were to be spread over the years on his terms of contract then Neymar will thump the likes of Messi, Xavi, Puyol and other senior players in annual wages and that might be the beginning of another potential locker-room turmoil.
Already, Ligue 1 giants, PSG are set to ready a €250m transfer deal to price the Argentine away even though new President, Josep Bartomeu has told Marca that he doesn’t think Messi will leave the Catalan club.
Notably, Barca has not been found guilty of any wrong doing yet but Rossell’s sudden and shock resignation points to the fact that Barcelona may have dipped their hands into the cookie jar deeper than they might have intended.
