Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar has been accused of having a deal with Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro to support him in election in return for writing off the footballer’s tax debt.
Former president Lula da Silva, the centre-left candidate who will run-off against Bolsonaro in the second and final round of Brazil’s elections on 30 October, made the claims on Wednesday. Neymar threw his support behind Bolsonaro ahead of the first round of voting earlier this month.
Bolsonaro, who is standing for re-election after coming to power in January 2019, has attracted criticism after being accused of homophobic and misogynistic comments. The far-right president, who has been compared to Donald Trump, won 55 per cent of the votes in the 2018 elections and is looking to win a second term as his country's leader.
However, the incumbent is trailing Lula of The Workers Party in the polls and secured far fewer votes in the first round of elections on 2 October. Lula secured 5.2 percent more of the overall vote share and 6.18million more preference votes, with the two now poised to go head-to-head in the final runoff.
Neymar said in a video shared by Brazil’s communications minister Fabio Faria last month, ahead of the first round of elections: "President Bolsonaro. I thank you for your illustrious visit. I wish I was there, unfortunately I am far away. But I will be with you in the next one. I am very happy because you are there."
Bolsonaro then posted another video on Neymar, in which the footballer said: "I thank you for your support, as always. You know that I am very proud of you."
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Lula – the nation’s president for eight years between 2003 and 2010 – has now claimed that Neymar is “afraid” of a change of presidency due to the footballer’s “tax debt” and suggesting that he has an “agreement” with Bolsonaro.
Speaking on the Youtube channel Flow Podcast, Lula said: “Neymar has the right to choose who he wants as president. I think he is afraid that if I win the election, I will find out what Bolsonaro forgave him (about) his income tax debt. I think that's why he's afraid of me.”
The former president added: “It is obvious that Bolsonaro made an agreement with the father (of Neymar). Now he has tax problems in Spain. But it's a problem which concerns the tax collection agency, not mine."
Spurs forward Lucas Moura has also endorsed Bolsonaro in each of the last two elections. Other footballers to show their support for the president during his previous run for election included Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, now both retired, prompting Barcelona - for whom the pair were ambassadors at the time - to take action.
