Just a month before the start of the World Cup, Brazilian superstar Neymar was due to testify on Tuesday at his trial in a Spanish court over alleged irregularities in his transfer to Barcelona almost a decade ago.

Neymar was due to testify on either October 21 or 28 but the judge agreed to bring his hearing forward to avoid a clash with his football commitments.

Wearing sunglasses and a dark suit, the 30-year-old came to the Barcelona Provincial Court for the start of the trial on Monday with his parents, who are also in the dock.

Neymar spent two hours in court before being excused by the judge for the rest of the day’s hearing after his lawyers argued he needed to rest after Sunday night’s game.

The player scored the only goal of the Ligue 1 game against Marseille.

“Da Silva Santos Junior scored a goal while I was in bed,” admitted Court President Jose Manuel del Amo.

The high-profile trial is the culmination of a years-long legal saga surrounding Neymar’s 2013 transfer from Brazilian club Santos to FC Barcelona.

He then joined Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 and made a world record €222m in 2017.

Spanish prosecutors are calling for Neymar to be jailed for two years and paid a €10m ($9.7m) fine.

He is one of nine defendants charged with corruption, including his parents and their N&N company, which manages his affairs.

Investigators began investigating the transfer after a complaint was filed in 2015 by DIS, a Brazilian company that owned 40 percent of the player’s sports rights when he was at Santos.

Barcelona said the transfer cost €57.1m but prosecutors believe it was at least €83m.

The club said they paid €40m to N&N and €17.1m to Santos, of which €6.8m went to DIS.

But DIS claim that Neymar, Barcelona and the Brazilian club worked together to hide the true cost of the deal.

Among the other accused are two former Barca presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as ex-Santos manager Odilio Rodrigues Filho.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is also set to make a statement via video conference on Tuesday to offer his views on how a secret preliminary deal between Barca and Neymar in 2011 impacted the market.

“Neymar Junior, with the complicity of his parents and FC Barcelona and its directors at the time, and later FC Santos, defrauded the DIS of its legitimate financial interests,” DIS lawyer Paulo Nasser said on Thursday.

DIS wants to reclaim 35 million euros.

Neymar’s lawyers insist their client is innocent and say the €40m is a ‘legal signing bonus that’s normal in the football transfer market’.

They said the Spanish authorities had no jurisdiction to hear the case because the transfer involved Brazilian nationals in Brazil.

The trial is scheduled to end on October 31.

Neymar’s abrupt departure to PSG five years ago sparked a series of legal battles, with Barcelona withholding his contract renewal bonus and suing the player for breach of contract when Neymar countered.

Both sides finally reached an “amicable” out-of-court settlement in 2021.

The footballer is enjoying one of his best seasons since joining PSG.

His goal against Marseille on Sunday was his ninth goal of the season in La Liga and he has seven assists in 11 Ligue 1 games.

But his relations with France international superstar Kylian Mbappe appear strained as the 23-year-old is reportedly demanding PSG sell the Brazilian.

Neymar is expected to play a key role for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar as the South American giants look to lift the trophy for the first time since 2002 and sixth time overall.

He will lead the Selecao into their Group G opener against Serbia on 24 November.