Brazilian authorities investigating rape allegations against footballer Neymar have closed the case over lack of evidence.
The Sao Paulo attorney general’s office said the police decision will be sent to prosecutors on Tuesday, which will have 15 days to evaluate the case.
A final decision on the case will be made by a judge.
According to a police report filed in São Paulo, Najila Trindade Mendes de Souza , a Brazilain model alleged that she was raped in a hotel in Paris, France Trindade said she was the victim of ‘aggression and rape’ by the Paris Saint-Germain player in a hotel room in the French capital on May 15.
She said the encounter started out consensual but quickly turned violent, leaving her with bruises and scrapes to her legs and buttocks, with Neymar refusing to stop.
According to Brazilian publication UOL Sport, Neymar had held a conversation with the woman through the social media platform Instagram and, through a friend, arranged for her to travel to Paris.
It was alleged that Neymar arrived drunk at her hotel, the Sofitel Paris Arc de Triomphe, on May 15 before becoming aggressive and violent and then raping her.
The woman claimed she was left shaken by the experience and returned to Brazil on May 17. She told police that Neymar arrived at the hotel that night ‘apparently drunk,’ and that they talked and ‘caressed’.
‘However, at some point, Neymar became aggressive, and through violence, practiced sexual intercourse against the will of the victim,’ the police report says.
Neymar repeatedly denied the accusation that he raped the woman in Paris, saying it was a setup.
In a statement released after the accusations became public, Neymar’s management said: “We completely repudiate the unjust accusations and, above all, the exposure in the press of an extremely negative situation.”
The footballer’s father, Neymar dos Santos, told Band TV in Brazil that “it is clear that it was a trap. If public opinion is not cleared up, and if we can’t show the truth rapidly, this will snowball. If we have to show Neymar’s WhatsApps and the conversations with this girl, we will”.
