Madrid (AFP)

After Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, it is Neymar's turn to be in the sights of the Spanish tax authorities who placed the Brazilian on his blacklist for a debt of more than 34 million euros, which makes him the most deadbeat of the country.

The name of Neymar da Silva Santos Junior has appeared since Wednesday among thousands of others on a list of "debtors" of Spanish public finances, according to a document released Wednesday by the Spanish Treasury.

With 34,624,268.60 euros, the Brazilian star of Paris SG drags the heaviest tax debt in Spain for an individual, according to the document consulted by AFP.

The former Barcelona player and therefore former tax resident in Spain until his departure from PSG in 2017 for a record transfer fee of 222 million euros, had been in the crosshairs of the Spanish tax authorities for some time.

The Public Treasury wants to make sure, the Spanish press said last year, that Neymar has paid in Spain the taxes corresponding to his extension bonus at Barça and the conditions linked to his transfer to PSG.

The alleged tax evasion had so far never been officially confirmed, but the presence of the name of the Brazilian player in the document published on Wednesday entitled "list of debtors" grouping together thousands of individuals and companies with "higher debt to one million euros "according to the Spanish tax authorities, confirms this hypothesis.

Asked Wednesday by AFP, the Public Treasury, which confirmed that Neymar appeared for the first time on this blacklist, did not however specify what this debt corresponded to.

The Public Treasury indicated that it was necessary to meet several criteria such as exceeding the deadline to pay the debt or the absence of payment in December 2019 to be among these bad payers.

- Lawsuits -

Neymar's transfers between his different clubs are the cause of many legal and administrative disputes.

First in 2013, when he left his Brazilian club Santos to join Barça, a transfer marred by numerous irregularities according to the Spanish courts, which sued the player and Barça for "fraud" and "corruption".

The Catalan club had officially quantified the transfer of the player from the Brazilian club at 57.1 million euros: 40 million for Neymar's family, 17.1 for Santos.

But according to Spanish justice, it actually cost at least 83.3 million.

The Spanish tax authorities are also interested in the transfer of the star in 2017 to PSG.

In 2016, during his extension, Neymar negotiated with the Catalan club the progressive payment of bonuses.

A year later, turnaround: Neymar signed with Paris for 222 million euros, Barça refused to pay him the 26 million euros remaining to be paid, and had filed a complaint against him for breach of contract , claiming the restitution of the premiums already paid as well as 8.5 million damages.

In June, the Spanish courts dismissed the PSG striker who claimed 43.6 million euros of uncollected bonus and ordered him to reimburse 6.79 million euros to his ex-club.

The Brazilian has also had to deal with the justice of his country, in particular for irregularities in the context of his transfer to Barcelona in 2013 or unpaid taxes related to image rights affected from 2011 to 2013.

Many football figures have had trouble with the Spanish tax authorities in recent years.

In January 2019, Cristiano Ronaldo was sentenced to two years in prison, which he will not have to serve.

According to a judicial source, between sanctions and reimbursement of the amount of tax evasion, the case cost 18.8 million to the former star of Real Madrid, today at Juventus.

As for Barça star Lionel Messi, he was sentenced in 2016 to a fine of 2 million euros and a 21-month prison sentence commuted to an additional fine of 252,000 euros.

© 2020 AFP