• La Liga

Controversy over Barca's Neymar payments

One of Neymar's former investors has called on FIFA to investigate the Brazilian starlet's transfer to Barcelona, saying he has not received his fair share of the €57 million Barcelona say they paid to sign the player from Santos.

At Neymar's unveiling at Camp Nou on Monday, Barca vice-president Jose Maria Bartomeu said the Catalan club had paid a total of €57 million divided among Santos and the various other stakeholders involved in the deal.

Bartomeu also confirmed to reporters at the press conference that a €10 million 'downpayment' previously made by Barca was included in that €57 million total.

One of the 'stakeholders' involved was investment fund DIS, whose executive director Roberto Moreno has told Catalan radio station RAC1 that he believes Barca broke FIFA rules by paying the €10 million while the player was under contract at Santos.

"Barca recognised that they advanced €10 million when Neymar was a Santos player," Moreno said. "This is a serious breach of FIFA regulations because the player was then under contract at Santos."

DIS reportedly owned 40% of Neymar's rights up until this week, and therefore would have expected to receive a share of €22.8 million from the transfer. However, Moreno said DIS were to receive only €9.6 million from Santos [40% of €17 million].

"We saw on the television that Barça have said the transfer was done for €57 million," Moreno said. "And here Santos are talking about €17 million. We feel tricked. Santos is leaving out the truth so that the investors receive less."

Speaking on Monday, Bartomeu gave some details of the negotiations, but said he could not give an exact breakdown of the figures which each party would receive.

"The negotiations were very long and sometimes quite difficult, involving four parties - Santos, DIS, Teisa and another sporting consultancy," Bartomeu said. "The percentages in the deal are a matter of confidentiality."

The sporting consultancy mentioned by Bartomeu is thought to be N&N, which is controlled by Neymar's father.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.