'I have been scarred': Neymar makes first statement since r-pe case against him was dropped

Neymar has released a statement after a judge in Brazil ordered the closure of the investigation into claims the football star raped a model in a Paris hotel room in May.

The Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain forward was accused of raping model Najila Trindade Mendes de Souza in the French capital on May 15.

However, this week Brazilian prosecutors followed the police recommendation that the case be dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Neymar, 27, had repeatedly rejected the accusations and released a statement on his Instagram account of Friday saying that his “world had come crashing down” but that he was “relieved” the case was now closed.


"This has been a stage in my life I'll never forget for many reasons. Mainly for the damage it has caused me, my family and the people who really know me. If I'm being honest, I can't say I'm happy, more relieved. This scar will remind me that human beings can do good things, but also the worst.

"Yes, my world has come crashing down and hit the ground. But as a jiu-jitsu legend once said: the ground is the final of everything, but for us it's just the beginning," he wrote in Portuguese.