The record-breaking transfer of Neymar from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain has become the partial focus of the trial of, Jean-Martial Ribes, the former communications director for the French club.
Ribes left his role with the club in 2022 for personal reasons after handing in his resignation in March of that year, at the time he was considered a key member of the club hierarchy.
Indicted since the first of December last year, the ex-employee is alleged by the French justice system to have used his position within PSG’s hierarchy to obtain sensitive information for the club, as well as for his own personal benefit.
This investigation has been carried out since September 2022 by investigating magistrates and centres around what they have referred to as an ‘influence peddling’ operation that they attribute to Ribes.
However, as revealed in a report by Libération, the French courts are now investigating whether the former communications director allegedly used his position to receive favours from the government to help PSG sign Neymar. This is something that he strongly denies, as his lawyer explained, his client has ‘Never offered anything in return for the slightest service.’
The discovery of hundreds of messages
What triggered the courts to begin investigating these new allegations was the discovery of a phone said to have belonged to Ribes during his time working for Les Parisiens.
The phone seized during a police search of the club’s head office, contained within it hundreds of SMS and WhatsApp messages from the former communications director, that the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) argues warrants further investigation.
In particular, they are interested in the correspondence between Ribes and a
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