Neymar said Friday that Nike's claim it parted ways with him
last year because he refused to cooperate with its internal investigation into
an employee's accusation he sexually assaulted her was an "absurd lie."
"(To) state that my contract was terminated because I
did not contribute in good faith to an investigation, is an absurd lie,"
the Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain star said in a statement on Instagram.
"I was not given the opportunity to defend myself. I
was not given the opportunity to know who this person was that was allegedly
offended. I don't even know her. I've never had any kind of relationship or
approach with this person."
The statement came a day after Nike said it had ended its
sponsorship deal with Neymar over the alleged 2016 incident -- which was
reported to the company in 2018 -- and his failure to cooperate with its
internal investigation.
Nike did not give a reason when it terminated the deal in
August 2020.
The company had sponsored Neymar, 29, since he was a
13-year-old prodigy.
The superstar is now a poster boy for Puma. His deal with
the German sportswear giant was announced in September 2020.
'They did nothing'
The Nike employee accused Neymar of trying to force her to
perform oral sex on him in a New York hotel room during a promotional trip for
a new line of sneakers, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first broke
the story.
Neymar denied the accusation, and said the US sportswear
giant had nevertheless continued sending him on promotional tours.
"In 2017 I traveled again to the USA for another
advertising campaign, with the same people, and nothing was told to me, nothing
changed!" he wrote.
"In 2017, 2018, 2019 we made trips, advertising
campaigns, countless shooting sections. And they told me nothing. Such a
serious matter and they did nothing."
In a previous statement, Neymar said he and Nike had split
for commercial reasons.
The player's father accused the company of
"blackmail."
"It's all very strange" that the accusation only
came to light years later, after Neymar left Nike, he told Brazil's Folha de
Sao Paulo newspaper.
Tarnished star
Nike said in a statement it was prepared to investigate in
2018 when the woman first came forward, but "respected the employee's
initial desire to keep this matter confidential and avoid an
investigation."
The firm therefore didn't share information with law
enforcement or any other third party until 2019, when she expressed an interest
in pursuing the matter.
Neymar is the world's most expensive footballer. He left
Barcelona for PSG in 2017 for a record transfer fee of 222 million euros ($270
million).
With his on-pitch exploits and huge following on social
media, Neymar is one of the biggest names in sports.
But his shine has often been tarnished.
His image as an eternal spoiled child was revived late last
year by rumors of a giant year-end party he organized in his native Brazil in
the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
A young woman also filed a complaint against him for rape in
2019.
He vehemently denied the accusation, and the case was
eventually dropped.