Justin Opara
Increasing number of sports personalities are coming under heavy criticisms for their inability to tame their libidos, rightly or wrongly.
Here the players and the allegations.
Neymar: It is a set-up The latest footballer who has come under the radar is Brazilian footballer Neymar has denied accusations of rape in Paris, calling the incident a “set up” and an extortion attempt against him.
According to a Sao Paulo police report, an unidentified woman alleged that the 27-year-old Brazil forward had drunkenly assaulted her last month at an upmarket hotel in the French capital, where he plays for the Paris Saint-Germain Club.
In a seven-minute video message published on his Instagram account, Neymar dismissed the claims, while revealing multiple erotic photos and messages exchanged with the accuser on WhatsApp.
“I’m accused of rape. It is a ‘heavy’ word, it is something very strong, but that’s what’s happening now,” he said. “I was caught by surprise, it was very bad and very sad to listen to that, because anyone who knows me, knows of my behaviour, knows that I would never do something like that.”
“What happened that day was a relationship between a man and a woman, inside four walls, something that happens with any couple,” Neymar said, maintaining his innocence.
‘I was caught out’ According to the police report, the unnamed woman told investigators in Sao Paulo that she met the footballer in Paris after exchanging messages on Instagram.
Neymar’s assistant sent her plane tickets and on May 15 she checked in to the Hotel Sofitel Paris Arc Du Triomphe, according to her account. The hotel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The woman told police that Neymar arrived at the hotel that night “apparently drunk” and that they talked and “caressed”.
“However, at some point, Neymar became aggressive, and through violence, practised sexual intercourse against the will of the victim,” the police report said.
The text also said the woman returned home to Brazil two days later and without filing a complaint with French police because she was “emotionally shaken and afraid to register the facts in another country”.
The police document said the woman will go through medical exams as part of an investigation. A statement issued by Neymar’s management on his website said all evidence of attempted extortion and nonrape will be submitted to the authorities in a timely manner.
“It’s very sad to believe the world is like that, that there are people who want to take advantage, want to extort other people,” said Neymar in his video.
“It was something that happened, it was a setup and I was caught out, but it has to be a lesson (learned) from now on.” Neymar is currently in Brazil, training with the national football team for the Copa America starting next week. He arrived at the Granja Comary training ground outside Rio de Janeiro 10 days after the alleged incident.
Late last month, the country’s football federation replaced him as captain for the tournament with his Paris St Germain teammate Dani Alves. Earlier in May, Neymar was banned for three matches by the French football authorities for hitting a fan after PSG’s French Cup final loss to Rennes, and was also reportedly involved in a dressing room fracas with his PSG teammates.
Paris St Germain did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the rape allegations. Brazil’s football federation (CBF) declined to comment. In October, Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo was also accused of sexual assault in Las Vegas. He has firmly denied the allegation.
Cristiano Ronaldo allegedly pays off accuser
Cristiano Ronaldo, 34, is the subject of a lawsuit filed in Las Vegas by Kathryn Mayorga, who publicly came forward to accuse the Portuguese superstar of raping her after she was separated from a group visiting his hotel penthouse at his invitation.
While Germany’s Der Spiegel first reported the alleged crime early 2017, the accusations became a huge international story when the news magazine published excerpts from Mayorga’s lawsuit.
In the suit, Mayorga claims she was coerced into accepting a payoff of $375,000 in 2010 to buy her silence and is seeking to overturn the non-disclosure agreement she signed at the time. The Las Vegas police department said that it was reopening its investigation into the events of June 13, 2009.
Police responded to a call of sexual assault at the time, a spokesman for the department said, but the case was closed after “the victim did not provide detectives with the location of the incident or suspect description.”
The Juventus striker has since denied the accusations, saying, “My clear conscience will thereby allow me to await with tranquility the results of any and all investigations.”
Ronaldo won’t, at the very least, be able to evade a massive public relations hit as easily as he dodges opposing defenses on the pitch. “Ronaldo is one of the most recognizable people on the planet,
” Sports Illustrated soccer columnist Grant Wahl told NBC News, “Along with Lionel Messi, he has been the best soccer player of the last decade, having played the biggest clubs in the world, Real Madrid and Manchester United.
“But I think Ronaldo’s status is in real danger here.” Forbes pegs the five-time Ballon d’Or winner as the third richest athlete in the world, having earned an estimated $108
