Neymar breaks silence on Brazil election result after World Cup pledge backfires

Neymar had voiced his support for Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro multiple times this month before Sunday night’s election defeat to left-wing candidate Lula

Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar has spoken of the Brazil election result following the defeat of president Jair Bolsonaro, whom he had publicly supported.

Neymar threw his support behind Bolsonaro ahead of the first round of voting earlier this month before Lula accused him of having a deal with Brazil’s far-right incumbent Bolsonaro – to support him in election in return for writing off the footballer’s tax debt. The footballer had then pledged to dedicate his first goal of the World Cup finals next month to Bolsonaro.

Lula – the nation’s president for eight years between 2003 and 2010 – claimed that Neymar is “afraid” of a change of presidency due to the footballer’s “tax debt” and suggested that he has an “agreement” with Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, who had been standing for re-election after coming to power in January 2019, had 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 had been looking to win a second term as his country’s leader.