The Audiencia Nacional, the court trying the Neymar-gate case, has accepted Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu's request to have the proceedings moved to Barcelona.

This represents an about-face and runs counter to the views of the public prosecution office and the investigating judge, Pablo Ruz.

The decision stems from the conclusion that the consequences of the crime occurred in Barcelona and so it is there that the matter must be dealt with. In the words of the judges who have issued the ruling, "the funds that were fraudulently diverted were in the club's accounts in Barcelona, since that is where all transfers are made from, irrespective of the destination of the funds".

The ruling also argues that the amount in question is not excessive and did not have any serious repercussions on the Spanish economy or cause any damage to trading operations in the country - in short, that the case is not a complex one.

As a result, the saga will continue in Barcelona, as had been hoped for by Barça as a club and the two main defendants, Rosell and Bartomeu.