Football Barcelona negotiates an agreement with Neymar to sign the judicial peace: it forgives him 16.7 million if he stops claiming 47
The American giant
Nike
explained this Thursday that the origin of the breakdown of its relationship with
Neymar
in 2020 was a complaint by one of its employees against the Brazilian star for
sexual assault
, an accusation flatly denied by the star's father.
In a statement, the multinational sporting goods company explained that the divorce was due to
Neymar
refusing to cooperate with its internal investigation of the complaint.
"
Nike
ended its relationship with the athlete because he refused to cooperate in a good faith investigation into credible allegations of improper acts that originated from an employee," the company affirms, confirming the information advanced Thursday by the newspaper
The Wall Street Journal
(
WSJ
).
The investigation into the incident, which allegedly occurred in 2016, "was not conclusive," the company stressed. "No set of facts emerged that would allow us to make a substantive statement on the matter. It would be inappropriate for
Nike to
make an accusatory statement without being able to provide supporting facts," he said.
In the
WSJ
article
, a spokeswoman for the
Paris Saint-Germain player
says
Ney
strongly denies the accusation.
"
Neymar Jr.
will vigorously defend himself against these unfounded attacks in the event of any lawsuit being filed, something that has not happened so far," the spokeswoman said in a statement, adding that
Nike
and the footballer parted ways for commercial reasons.
The premature severance of this sponsorship relationship, which began more than a decade ago, occurred in August 2020 without any of the parties disclosing the reasons.
Neymar denies the accusations
In the statement sent to Afp,
Nike
explains that it was "deeply concerned about the accusations of sexual assault made in 2018 by one of its employees against
Neymar Jr
", without making further details.
Based on eyewitness accounts and documents, the
WSJ
reports that the employee told her friends, as well as co-workers, that
Neymar
tried to force her to perform oral sex in 2016 while she was in her hotel room in
New York
, where she worked. in the coordination and logistics of a promotional event.
"How can news like this come to light?", Protested the player's father,
Neymar Sr.
, on
Thursday
in statements to the
Folha de Sao Paulo
newspaper
, in which he accused the company of "blackmail" and assured that his son "don't even know that girl."
"This comes from
Nike
. It's very strange, everyone leaves
Nike
and they are accused of things like that. It happened to
Cristiano Ronaldo
, to the basketball boy who died,
Kobe (Bryant)
. They started to denigrate them, just like now they are accused unfairly to
Neymar,
"he says.
In its statement,
Nike
notes that the company was ready to investigate the incident in 2018, when the worker made it known internally, but "respected the initial desire of the employee to keep this matter confidential and avoid an investigation."
Nike
reports that, in response to this request, it did not file a complaint with the courts or any other third party until 2019, when the employee did express her willingness to have her complaint investigated.
"We continue to respect the employee's confidentiality and we also recognize that this has been a long and difficult experience for her," Nike said.
Citing unidentified people and documents, the
WSJ
reports that
Nike
hired lawyers from the firm
Cooley LLP
to begin the investigation in 2019 and, as it progressed, decided to dispense with the Brazilian star's involvement in marketing activities.
Neymar's
spokeswoman
has told the
WSJ
that the two parties had been in talks since 2019. "It is very strange that a case that is supposed to have occurred in 2016, with allegations from a
Nike
employee
, comes to light now," he says.
In 2019,
Neymar
was also accused of rape by another woman in Brazil.
The accusation, which he vehemently denied and was eventually withdrawn, left his image untouched.
After that complaint,
Nike
expressed its "deep concern" but then supported the player once the case was closed by the Brazilian police for lack of evidence.
Neymar
, 29, announced a new sponsorship deal with
Puma
just weeks after the breakup with Nike.
Nike had
sponsored the forward since he was a 13-year-old prodigy.
Earlier this month, amid rumors about his sporting future, the forward signed an extension of his contract with
Paris Saint-Germain
until the end of the 2024-2025 season.
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