Neymar Denies Accusations That He Forced A Nike Employee To Perform Oral Sex

JAKARTA - Sportswear giant Nike has cut ties with Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar. The former Barcelona player is accused of refusing to cooperate in an investigation into sexual harassment by one of their employees.

In a report that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Neymar allegedly attempted to force the employee to perform oral sex in his hotel room during a promotional event after removing his underwear, before attempting to restrain her from leaving the room before chasing her down the hall.

Through his spokesman, Brazil's attacker denied the allegations saying: "Neymar Jr. would vigorously defend himself against this baseless attack if any claims were made, which has not happened so far".

Meanwhile, Nike claims the incident occurred in 2016 and was reported to the company in 2018. They added that the employee made the allegations on the forum before launching an independent investigation.

Nike later said the investigation proved "inconclusive", and the company accused Neymar of refusing to cooperate.

A statement from Nike read: "Nike is deeply disturbed by allegations of sexual harassment made by one of our own employees against Neymar Jr".

The alleged incident occurred in 2016 and was officially reported to Nike in 2018. The employee shared her experience in a forum created by Nike leadership to create a safe environment where current and former employees can share their experiences and concerns confidentially.

"From the start, we have taken the allegations of our employee and her experience very seriously".

"When the employee first brought her allegations to Nike's leadership in 2018, she did so only on the basis of an assurance of confidentiality".

"Nike was prepared to investigate at that time, Nike respects the employee's initial wish to keep this matter confidential and avoid investigation".

"We have a responsibility to respect her privacy and do not believe it is appropriate to share such information with law enforcement or any third party without the employee's consent".

"In 2019, when the employee later expressed interest in addressing the matter, we acted immediately. Nike conducted an independent investigation and used separate independent legal counsel for the employee, at its option and at the company's expense.

"The investigation was inconclusive. None of the facts emerged that would allow us to speak substantively on the matter".

"It is inappropriate for Nike to make accusatory statements without being able to provide supporting facts".

"Nike ended their relationship with the athlete because he refused to cooperate in a good faith investigation into alleged wrongdoing that an employee could believe".

"We continue to respect employee's confidentiality and also recognize that this has been a long and difficult experience for her".

According to reports, Neymar has a deal with Nike that runs until 2022, before this partnership ended in September last year. He then signed a contract with Puma at which time Nike did not give any reasons.