Brazilian soccer star Neymar has donated five million Brazilian riyals (about $ 1 million) to combat the Corona virus outbreak in his country, according to local SPT channel.

In response to a query by Agence France-Presse, the media office of the 28-year-old attacker did not want to comment on this topic, saying "we will never talk about donations or sums of money."

According to SBT, the money will be partially paid to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the rest goes to a solidarity fund created by his friend, TV host Luciano Hook.

Hook, the likely candidate for the presidential election, recently announced on social media that he raised 1.5 million riyals (about $ 300,000) for the slum dwellers in Rio de Janeiro, especially vulnerable to corona infection.

Neymar followed in the footsteps of his colleague in Paris Saint-Germain, the young striker Killian Mbappe, who donated an undisclosed sum of money to the "Abbey Pierre" Foundation.

Neymar had returned to his country after the suspension of tournaments in Europe due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, and stayed in a luxury villa in the marine resort of Mangaratiba, near Rio, where he spent months during his recovery from strong foot injuries in recent years.

Neymar was criticized last week for spreading pictures of him with his friends playing beach ball, at a time when in Brazil strict rules of the home stone are being applied.

However, his surroundings confirmed that the player had not received "any visit" and was in a "totally isolated" house stone along with other people who had traveled with him from France.

A number of football stars have donated for the same reasons, most notably Argentine Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.