Neymar £31M Assets Frozen

A Brazilian court has frozen assets of Barcelona star Neymar, his family and related businesses valued at 188.8m Brazilian reals (£31.3m).

The São Paulo federal court said on Friday that the 23-year-old is alleged to have evaded 63m reals (£10.5m) in Brazil taxes between 2011 and 2013. He moved in 2013 from Brazilian club Santos to Spain’s Barcelona.

In a statement, Judge Carlos Muta said that Neymar only declared assets worth 19.6m reals (£3.2m).

The judge says Neymar “is solely responsible for the income declaration.” The Associated Press reached Neymar’s agent, who promised to comment later.

A Brazilian judge has accused Barcelona forward Neymar of tax evasion and frozen 188.8m reais (£31.3m) of his assets, authorities said on Friday.

Neymar is accused of not paying 63.3m reais (£10.5m) in taxes between 2011 and 2013. The judge froze three times that amount for security reasons and to cover potential interest and fines, according to a judicial order explaining the seizure.

The action covers property and vehicles and is a preventive measure to stop the player selling assets before the case is settled. He will still have access to bank accounts and other liquid assets.

Judge Carlos Muta accused the 23-year-old of “omitting sources of income from abroad”. Barcelona Football Club was cited as the source of unreported money.

The frozen assets were in the name of the Brazil player and three companies in which he and his father are the principal owners. Neymar’s total assets were given as 244.2m reais.

Neymar joined the Spanish club in June 2013 after a successful career at Santos but his transfer has been a source of controversy.

Then Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said Neymar cost €57.1m but the deal was shrouded in secrecy.

His successor Josep Maria Bartomeu eventually admitted the total cost came to €86.2m once additional payments to the player and his family had been included.

Rosell resigned in January 2014 after a judge decided to investigate and call him to testify in the case. A Brazilian investment firm which bought an interest in Neymar has taken legal action against the player, his father and Barcelona in a bid to secure a bigger slice of the transfer fee.

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Menezes Enjoys Ronaldinho Return

Mano Menezes declared himself happy with Ronaldinho's performance after the former Barcelona star made his first appearance for Brazil in 10 months in Monday's 1-0 win over Ghana at Craven Cottage.

Ronaldinho failed to make Dunga's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and had only played once since before the victory over the Africans in London.

Many had written off the 31-year-old's international career when he struggled to find form and keep his weight down during a poor spell at Italian giants AC Milan. The striker has found a new lease of life since moving to Flamengo, however, scoring 15 goals for the Brazilian club, leading to his recall under new international coach Menezes.

The former Barcelona man, who won the FIFA World Cup with Brazil in 2002, did not look back to his full best in the match, but he did show glimpses of his former self and would have scored had it not been for two excellent late saves from Adam Kwarasey.

Menezes had been accused of using Ronaldinho's recall as a cynical ploy to win over ailing support for him in Brazil, but he denies this and was happy to see the Flamengo star play well. "He (Ronaldinho) played very well and is a player we needed to bring back to the team," Menezes said.

"International football is much faster nowadays and he found it a bit difficult at the beginning. But then he got into the rhythm and showed what he is all about in the second half. He played really well and the goalkeeper made a wonderful save from him. We need to bring him back to the international team."

Menezes' position has come under scrutiny after he could only lead Brazil to the quarter-finals of the Copa America this summer. Coming after the Selecao's poor showing at last year's FIFA World Cup, the Brazilian public are growing restless at their team's failure to live up to former glories.

They would have received a much tougher test had it not been for Ghana's indiscipline, which saw them reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute with the sending off of Daniel Opare, and their play was patchy for large parts of the game.

The 49-year-old Brazil boss has pleaded for patience though and insisted the country should be happy with the win, despite it coming against 10 men. "I am satisfied with the result because we were playing a very good team," Menezes said.

"We didn't start very well but once we got into our rhythm we played very well, and could have scored more goals. We didn't concede any chances to our opponents and it's very important we could get back to winning games after having lost our last games.

"This Ghana team was more or less the same team that played in the World Cup. They are a bit ahead of us because we are still rebuilding our team. We are bringing through a new generation of players. What makes it difficult to judge is the fact that it wasn't 11 against 11. If it was 11 v 11, it would have been so much more close."

Stefan Stevanovic, who replaced Milovan Rajevac as Ghana coach in January, is content with the progress his team are making and was happy with their performance. I am very happy with the team. The first 35 minutes we played fantastic," he said.

"We showed once again that we are going in the right direction as a team. Against Brazil, playing 65 minutes with 10 players is very difficult. It was a very good performance and I am very proud of my team."

Ronaldinho Recalled for Ghana

Ronaldinho has been recalled to the Brazil squad to play Ghana in a friendly next month in London.

The attacking midfielder missed the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and has played only once for the national team since then.

Coach Mano Menezes has picked Ronaldinho in a 24-man squad for the 5 September match at Craven Cottage.

Real Madrid left-back Marcelo and FC Porto striker Hulk have also returned to the squad.

Also summoned into the team are Neymar, Paulo Henrique Ganso, Lucas and Robinho.

Ronaldinho last played for Brazil in November 2010 in a friendly against Argentina, which the 2014 World Cup hosts lost 1-0.

Ghana and Brazil announced next month's friendly on Wednesday.

Brazil squad:

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, Italy), Jefferson (Botafogo), Fabio (Cruzeiro)

Defenders: Lucio (Inter Milan), Thiago Silva (AC Milan, Italy), Dedé (Vasco da Gama), David Luiz (Chelsea, England), Daniel Alves (Barcelona, Spain), Danilo (Santos), Marcelo (Real Madrid, Spain)

Midfielders: Adriano (Barcelona, Spain), Lucas Leiva (Liverpool, England), Luiz Gustavo (Bayern Munich, Germany), Ralf (Corinthians), Elias (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Lucas (Sao Paulo)

Forwards: Ronaldinho (Flamengo), Robinho (AC Milan, Italy), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan, Italy), Hulk (Porto, Portugal), Leandro Damiao (Internacional) , Neymar (Santos)