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Barcelona cleared of fraud in Neymar purchase

Barcelona have been cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) of committing fraud when they signed Neymar from Santos.

Neymar left the Brazilian side to join Barca in 2013, but the deal has been mired in controversy ever since.

The Catalan side claimed they signed the Brazil star from Santos for €17 million, though it was later revealed that the total fee paid came to around €83m, with Barca making payments to the player’s private company and directly to his father.

Santos appealed to CAS claiming they were owed over €61m (£55m/$69m) in compensation but the court has ruled in the reigning Spanish champions’ favour, insisting they did not act illegally when they came to the agreement with the attacker.