GOAL

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu will be tried for tax evasion alongside the Catalan club and his predecessor Sandro Rosell, it was confirmed on Friday.

The Barcelona president has been told he will face trial after failing to satisfy a judge at preliminary proceedings

Rosell resigned as president in 2014 after it emerged Barcelona had paid more than originally stated for the transfer of Brazil striker Neymar from Santos, with Bartomeu taking charge in his place.

The signing was initially said to involve a €57.1 million transfer fee but it later emerged the deal was actually worth nearer €86m, sparking a Spanish state investigation into tax owed on the undeclared portion of the fee.

Bartomeu has since claimed that he played no part in any negotiations regarding the Neymar transfer and pointed to Rosell as the man who was in control of the switch, saying he also had no personal contact during contract talks with the player.

But the 52-year-old has been unable to avoid trial, with National Court Judge Pablo Ruz closing preliminary proceedings by decreeing that he will join Rosell and the Blaugrana in the dock on tax evasion charges.

In addition, Rosell stands accused of corporate criminal activities relating to the transfer of Neymar in 2013.

Judge Ruz’s decision means that Bartomeu will be the first serving Barcelona president to stand as a defendant in a trial, leaving his future in doubt ahead of the club’s presidential elections in June.