Dispute over lake

Fuss over property: Neymar escapes million-euro fine

Brazil's soccer star Neymar will not have to pay a fine of millions for the time being in the dispute over an artificial lake illegally created on his luxury estate near Rio de Janeiro. This decision by a judge is based on court documents made available to the AFP news agency on Wednesday (local time).

The judge suspended the fine and referred to a report by the state environmental authority, according to which no special environmental permit was required for the lake project.

Neymar, who is currently injured, had previously been fined more than 16 million real (just under 3.1 million euros) by the city's environmental authority. The soccer star took legal action against this. The amount of the fine would cause the 32-year-old "considerable, disproportionate and even illegal damage", the judge ruled and suspended the fine.

Over 10,000 square meters in size
Neymar bought the property in 2016. According to reports, the property is over 10,000 square meters in size and includes a helipad, a spa and a gym.

Construction workers also created an artificial lake and a beach without permission from the authorities. Among other things, a river was diverted for this purpose. When the authorities therefore cordoned off the property and ordered all construction work on the estate to stop immediately, the footballer ignored the order: according to Brazilian media reports, he instead threw a party and went swimming in his artificial lake.