Barcelona striker Neymar has had £31m of assets belonging to the player himself, his family and related businesses frozen by a Brazilian court over allegations of tax evasion.
The Sao Paulo federal court said on Friday that the 23-year-old star is believed to have evaded the equivalent of £10.5m in taxes in his home country between 2011 and 2013.
The forward moved from Brazilian club Santos to join Barcelona in 2013, and Judge Carlos Muta said in a statement that he had only declared assets worth just over £3m at that time.
The judge said that Neymar "is solely responsible for the income declaration" and added that three times the value of the amount that Neymar is suspected of evading had been frozen for security reasons and to cover potential interest and fines.
The action covers property and vehicles and is intended as a preventive measure to stop the player selling assets before the case is settled, although he will still have access to bank accounts and other liquid assets.
Tom Nightingale
