Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., commonly known simply as Neymar, the Nike-sponsored forward on both the Paris Saint-Germain and Brazilian national football teams, has been accused of rape. His 27-year-old accuser, whose name has not been disclosed, filed a report to that effect on May 31 with the police in her native country of Brazil and has been interviewed on Brazil's SBT TV. She alleges that Neymar bought her a plane ticket and put her up in a hotel in Paris, where, on May 15, he showed up drunk and took advantage of her. Neymar denies the allegations and claims that he is the victim of an extortion scheme. To support his claim of innocence, he posted online a video speech as well as some of his Instagram exchanges with the woman, including some explicit photos she sent him. Police in Rio de Janeiro have since opened an investigation to determine whether Neymar's posting of the photos was lawful, and he has deleted the posts. In a statement, Nike has said that it is “very concerned by the recent allegations and will continue to closely monitor the situation.” Neymar is currently in Brazil to prepare for the Copa America tournament. Three newspapers there have reported that MasterCard would be removing Neymar from its tournament-related ad campaign, but the company itself has not confirmed this. The Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, which is sponsoring the national football team but not individual players, has made no comment on Neymar. The Brazilian Football Confederation, meanwhile, has said that Neymar will not be playing in Copa America because of an ankle injury suffered in an exhibition match against Qatar.

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