Friday, May 28, 2021
Because of sexual assault?
New details on Nike’s breakup with Neymar
By August 2020, Neymar is one of Nike’s most prominent advertising faces. Then the sporting goods manufacturer separates from the soccer star, but the reasons remain in the dark. Now a US newspaper reports: It was about alleged attacks on an employee.
The separation of the sporting goods manufacturer Nike from soccer superstar Neymar da Silva Santos Junior last year was apparently due to allegations of sexual assault. It was then that the company began investigating a Nike employee’s allegation that the Brazilian athlete sexually molested her, people familiar with the matter said. The “Wall Street Journal” reports. Documents viewed by the US newspaper are also said to prove this.
In August 2020, Nike publicly gave no reason for the premature end of the advertising contract with one of the most famous athletes in the world. Nike’s marketing deal with Neymar still had eight years remaining, according to an informant.
The Nike employee had told friends and colleagues in 2016 that Neymar tried to force her to perform oral sex in his hotel room while she was in New York. According to the people familiar with the processes and the documents, she helped coordinate events and logistics for Neymar and his entourage. Among the informants are former and current Nike employees.
Neymar denies the claim, as his spokeswoman said. “Neymar Jr. will vigorously defend himself against these unfounded attacks if an allegation is made that has not yet been made,” she said in a statement. She said Nike and Neymar broke up for commercial reasons.
Cooperation ended before the investigation was completed
The Nike employee filed a complaint with the sporting goods manufacturer in 2018 and described the incident to the head of human resources and the company’s general counsel, according to the informants and in the documents. Nike hired lawyers from Cooley to conduct an investigation from 2019 and decided not to show Neymar in marketing in the midst of the investigation.
Nike ended its relationship with Neymar in 2020 after the athlete refused to cooperate with the Cooley investigation, as some of the people said. Representatives from Neymar denied the portrayal of the woman. The investigation was still ongoing when the relationship ended. “Nike ended our relationship with the athlete because he refused to cooperate in an investigation into credible allegations of wrongdoing,” said Hilary Krane, Nike’s senior corporate lawyer.
Krane said Nike has not made the matter public because “not a single set of facts has emerged that would enable us to speak substantively about the matter. It would be inappropriate for Nike to make an accusatory testimony without in to be able to provide supporting facts. ”
Neymar was one of Nike’s highest paid athletes
Neymar’s spokeswoman said the two sides had been in talks since 2019. “It is very strange that a case that is said to have occurred in 2016, with allegations by a Nike employee, is only now coming to light,” said the spokeswoman.
Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., 29 years old, signed with Nike at the age of 13 before becoming a professional player in Brazil and then a star in Europe. He became the most expensive player in football history when Paris Saint-Germain paid FC Barcelona a transfer fee of around $ 260 million for him in 2017. The goalscorer is a leader in the Brazilian national team and recently signed a contract extension with PSG, a top French club, until 2025. Neymar was the face of the Nike brand in South America with signature shoes and clothing collections and was one of Nike’s highest paid athletes when the Relationship ended.
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