RIO DE JANEIRO, June 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Brazil’s Neymar went to a Rio de
Janeiro police station Thursday to give a statement in a probe into whether
he broke the law by posting intimate pictures of a woman who accused him of
rape.
The football megastar — full name Neymar da Silva Santos Junior — went to
the station in an attempt to defend himself, sitting in a wheelchair after
spraining his ankle the night before in a pre-Copa America friendly that has
ruled him out of the tournament.
As he made his way out through a media scrum after giving his statement to
police, the star striker expressed gratitude to his fans for their support.
“I felt very loved,” he said.
The injury to the world’s most expensive player is a huge blow to host
nation Brazil’s preparations for the South American continental championship,
which begins on June 14.
Neymar hobbled off the field in the 20th minute of Brazil’s 2-0 win over
Qatar in Brasilia on Wednesday. A large ice pack had been strapped to his
lower right leg.
Neymar’s club, Paris Saint-Germain, tweeted Thursday that the player
“suffered a severe sprain of the outer lateral ligament of his right ankle,”
and will be “reassessed by the club’s medical department within the next 72
hours.”
The injury caps a troubled season on and off the field for Neymar, who
faces accusations that he raped the woman, Najila Trindade Mendes de Souza,
in a Paris hotel in May.
Neymar denies the claims and in an attempt to defend himself, published
intimate WhatsApp messages and images of his encounter with Trindade on
social media — without her consent, possibly breaking Brazilian law.
Such an offense carries a maximum five-year jail term.
– ‘Difficult moment’ –
Just before the late Wednesday game the SBT TV network aired an interview
with Trindade in which she described suffering “aggression together with
rape” at the hands of the player.
Trindade, who says she works as a model, acknowledged she initially liked
Neymar and wanted to have sex with him.
The player paid for her plane ticket from Brazil and put her up in a Paris
hotel.
Things changed dramatically at their first encounter, Trindade said. “He
was aggressive, totally different than the boy that I got to know on the
messages.
“Since I really wanted to be with him I said, OK, I’m going to try to
handle this,” she said.
After some kissing and caressing “he started to hit me … then he began to
hurt me a lot, and I asked him to stop because it hurt.”
According to Trindade, Neymar apologized, but then continued to hurt her
while they had intercourse.
A video circulating on social media showed Trindade hitting Neymar in a
hotel room and accusing him of assaulting her the day before.
In a sign of how significant a figure Neymar remains in Brazilian life,
President Jair Bolsonaro offered his public backing for the player ahead of
the match with Qatar, and later visited him at the hospital.
“I wish you a good and fast recovery,” Bolsonaro said on Instagram beneath
a photo of him and Neymar.
Neymar posted a photo of his swollen ankle on Instagram with a message:
“After the storm comes the calm.”
Sponsors however are not calm. Mastercard canceled a Neymar-themed ad
campaign that was to be broadcast during the Copa America, Spanish media
reported, while Nike expressed its “deep concern” on Monday.
Neymar’s injury also leaves a question mark over the future career of a
player who cost Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain a world-record fee of 222
million euros ($248 million) when he moved from Barcelona in 2017.
Ankle problems ruled him out of the second half of the just-completed Ligue
1 season in France. When Neymar did finally return to the team, he played as
PSG suffered a shock defeat to Rennes in the French Cup final — and
afterward lashed out at a supporter in the stands.