In an interview on Tuesday, Brazilian presidential candidate Lula explained Neymar’s support for Jair Bolsonaro through an agreement between the two men to reduce the player’s tax debt.
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Accustomed to suffering those of Ligue 1 defenders, Neymar did not appreciate the last tackle coming straight from Brazil. Tuesday, October 18, in an interview given to YouTube channel Flow Podcast, Brazilian presidential candidate Lula said Neymar is self-interested backing Jair Bolsonaro. “I think he is afraid that if I win the election, I will know what Bolsonaro forgave him [au sujet] of his debt [en matière] income tax”, he claimed.
In a press release published on social networks and shared by the footballer, Saturday October 22, the player’s family judges this accusation “misleading” and “made lightly”.
Pass of arms between Lula and the Neymar clan. “It is obvious that Bolsonaro made an agreement with Neymar’s father. Now he has tax problems in Spain,” said the former Brazilian president on Tuesday, referring to the lawsuit against the PSG striker concerning his transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013. The footballer’s relatives replied to him on Saturday, refuting the accusations “of illegal conduct allegedly practiced with the agreement of President Jair Messias Bolsonaro”. They also challenge him to “prove otherwise”, while sharing part of the lawsuit with the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (Carf), a court that adjudicates tax claims in Rio, and according to which “the case has been closed” in March 2017.
Just over a week away from the second round of the presidential election (October 30), Neymar’s family added: “In an important moment that the country is going through, we do not expect speeches like this from a candidate for the presidency of the Republic, which exceed the reasonable limits of freedom of expression.“.