Brazil police probing rape allegations against PSG forward Neymar have closed the case citing lack of evidence, the Sao Paulo attorney general’s office said on Monday.
The police decision will be sent to prosecutors on Tuesday, following which they will have a 15-day window to evaluate the case. A final decision on the case will be made by a judge.
Neymar was accused of rape by Brazilian model Najila at a Paris hotel in May. Last month, she came forward as the accuser and claimed that Neymar had arranged her travel to the French capital from Brazil after they conversed over Instagram.
According to a Sao Paulo police report dated May 31, the accuser, a resident of Brazil, told police she met Neymar on Instagram, and the two began exchanging messages. Neymar “invited her to meet him in Paris,” then “supplied her with plane tickets and accommodation.”
She told police she arrived in Paris on May 15, staying at the Hotel Sofitel Paris Arc Du Triomphe. There, she said, they “touched each other, but in a given moment Neymar became aggressive and, with violence, had sexual intercourse” against the victim’s will.
She said she left Paris two days later and said she did not file her complaint in Paris because she was shaken.
Neymar, 27, strongly denied the allegation.
“There was a relationship between a man and a woman between four walls. On the next day nothing happened,” the striker said.
“I hope investigators read the messages and see what happened.”
The Brazilian took to social media to deny the allegation and said he was “really upset” with people knowing his true character.
“I’m being accused of rape,” the Paris Saint-Germain player said in a video published on his Instagram account.
“Yes, it is a heavy word, a very strong thing,” he said in Portuguese.
“What happened was totally the opposite of what they are talking and saying,” Neymar said.
“I’m very upset at this moment”, he said.
Neymar however is also under investigation by Rio de Janeiro police for publishing images of his accuser on social media without her permission. The playmaker posted intimate details of their conversations and photos without due authorisation from his accuser. If found guilty, the offence carries a maximum five-year jail term.