Police in Brazil have confirmed they’re investigating a video posted by Neymar on Instagram during which he denies recent rape allegations made against him.
It was reported in Brazil on Friday that a
woman has accused Neymar
of raping her in a Paris hotel room on May 15, prompting the footballer to
post a seven-minute video on social media denying the claim and showing some
messages and pictures shared
between himself and the woman.
Per ESPN Brazil, the country’s Civil Police
have said they’re looking into the footage as Neymar’s video might have broken Brazilian law.
“The office for the Investigation of Cyber Crimes will investigate the alleged
video disclosure by
the player Neymar,” they said.
“The 110th precinct has already taken
steps to help during this investigation.”
Football journalist Jeremy Smith noted why the
video posted by
Neymar might have
resulted in him breaking the law:
In making
an attempt to defend himself, Neymar might have gotten himself in additional trouble! Reports
that he could be pursued
by justice for “distribution, publication or revealing of material including scenes of sex, nudity or pornography without the consent of the
victim.”
In the clip, Neymar says the allegations
are an effort to
extort money from him
and calls the situation a
“setup.” Here is a section
of what the Brazilian had to say:
“There was a relationship between a man and a woman between four walls,”
the PSG player said, per
the Associated Press. “On the
next day nothing happened. I hope investigators read the messages and see what
happened.”
The woman said she and Neymar met in Paris after sharing messages on Instagram.
Per ESPN, authorities arrived Sunday at
Brazil’s training camp
in Rio de Janeiro, where the team is presently preparing for the Copa America, in order to speak to
the player.
The 27-year-old has spent the last 2 seasons at PSG, having joined
the club for a world-record fee from Barcelona in the summer
of 2017.
While Neymar has won 2 Ligue 1 titles, both of his campaigns have been disrupted by injury problems. The PSG star was also recently stripped of the Brazil captaincy by manager Tite, with
Dani Alves chosen instead to wear the armband for Brazil at the Copa America.