Why was Neymar fined €3 MILLION?

Stuart Telford

• 4 Jul 2023 13:48 BST
• 3 min read

Neymar has been hit with a €3 million fine by a Brazilian state prosecutor for failing to comply with environmental regulations in Rio de Janeiro.

Neymar has courted plenty of controversy since completing a world record €222m transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 - a move Barca's economic vice president Eduard Romeu recently conceded made the club "lose the plot."

While the Blaugrana spent millions on potential Neymar replacements - like Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann and, erm, Malcom - PSG's prize was an injury-prone star who shines brightly when fit, if not attending his sister's birthday parties in his native Brazil.

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Neymar was on fire for PSG in the first half of last season, hitting 13 goals and 11 assists in 20 Ligue 1 games before undergoing ankle surgery in February, but that didn't stop a section of the support from aggregating outside his Paris residence in May, demanding that he leave the club.

But now a second home in Rio is the root of his most recent problems.

Neymar's artificial lake

"A prosecutor in Brazil fined soccer star Neymar 16 million reais [€3m] for building a lake at his mansion on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro without an environmental license," report NDTV Sports.

READ: Barca and PSG have 'everything agreed' for Neymar transfer

"The town council in Mangaratiba issued four fines for 'environmental violations in the construction of an artificial lake at the player's mansion'…

"Neymar has 20 days to appeal the penalty, the amount of which had initially been set at 5m reais, close to $1m."

Neymar's future remains a source of intense media speculation. It has been reported that Barca and PSG have agreed, in principle, to a Camp Nou return, but the share of his salary during a potential loan period remains a point of contention.

Premier League pair Manchester United and Chelsea have also been credited with an interest.