MENDING FENCES

Barca and Neymar reach 'amicable' out of court settlement

The case relates to what the Brazilian said were unpaid bonuses due as part of a contract he signed in October 2016, before his 222 million euro world record transfer to PSG.

In Summary

•Neymar sued the Catalan club for 46.3 million euros, and it counter-sued for breach of contract

•Barcelona said in a statement that three labour claims and a civil suit had been "ended out of court in amicable fashion"

•Meanwhile, the Brazilian judge disagreed with the way CBF changed voting rules in 2017 before the election of Caboclo in 2018

Neymar with former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi after the Copa America final between Brazil and Argentina.
Neymar with former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi after the Copa America final between Brazil and Argentina.
Image: REUTERS

Barcelona said on Monday it had reached an "amicable" out-of-court settlement to end its legal disputes with Brazil forward Neymar, who moved from Barca to Paris St-Germain in 2017.

The case relates to what Neymar said were unpaid bonuses due as part of a contract he signed in October 2016, before his 222 million euro world record transfer to Paris.

Neymar sued the Catalan club for 46.3 million euros, and it counter-sued for breach of contract.

A judge in Barcelona sided with the club, ordering the Brazilian in June last year to pay the Camp Nou side 6.7 million euros.

Spanish media said Neymar had appealed and also launched a new case against Barca. That case is now void.

Barcelona said in a statement that three labour claims and a civil suit had been "ended out of court in amicable fashion".

Meanwhile, a Brazilian judge on Monday annulled the 2018 election of Rogerio Caboclo as president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), and named two regional soccer chiefs to take temporary charge of the organisation.

The judge disagreed with the way the CBF changed voting rules in 2017 before the election of Caboclo the following year, the organisation said in a statement.

The judge has asked the presidents of Rio club Flamengo and the Paulista Football Federation, Rodolfo Landim and Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos, respectively, to take temporary charge, although they have not agreed to assume control.

The two men said they will analyse the request and make an announcement at a later date.

However, the CBF said it was appealing the decision and complained there was no new information to prompt a judge to rule on a four-year old case.

Existing laws prohibit club presidents from overseeing the governing body, it added.

"Over the course of four years, the justice system saw no urgency to examine requests for annulment," it said.

The surprise decision comes less than two months after the CBF suspended Caboclo pending an investigation into reported claims of sexual harassment.

Caboclo is the fourth CBF president in a row to face legal problems. His three predecessors were all involved in corruption scandals and banned from footballing activities by the game’s governing body FIFA.