28, May 2021
Football: Nike says it dumped Neymar over his refusal to cooperate with sex assault probe 0
Nike said Thursday it parted ways with Neymar last year after the superstar Brazil attacker “refused to cooperate in a good faith investigation” as the company probed an employee’s claim that he sexually assaulted her.
The apparel giant said in a statement that its investigation into the alleged 2016 incident — which was reported to the company in 2018 — was inconclusive.
“No single set of facts emerged that would enable us to speak substantively on the matter,” the company said.
In a Wall Street Journal article reporting the assault allegation, a spokeswoman for Neymar said the player denies the claim.
“Neymar Jr. will vigorously defend himself against these baseless attacks in case any claim is presented, which did not happen so far,” she said in a statement, adding that Nike and Neymar split for commercial reasons.
Nike said otherwise in its statement.
“It would be inappropriate for Nike to make an accusatory statement without being able to provide supporting facts,” the company said, but added: “Nike ended its relationship with the athlete because he refused to cooperate in a good faith investigation of credible allegations of wrongdoing by an employee.”
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing documents and unnamed people, that Nike hired lawyers at Cooley LLP to conduct an investigation starting in 2019 and decided to stop featuring Neymar in marketing during the probe.
In its statement, the company said it was prepared to investigate in 2018 when the woman first came forward, but “respected the employee’s initial desire to keep this matter confidential and avoid an investigation.”
The firm therefore didn’t share information with law enforcement or any other third party until 2019, when she expressed an interest in pursuing the matter.
“We continue to respect the confidentiality of the employee and also recognize that this has been a long and difficult experience for her,” Nike said.
Neymar’s spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that the two parties had been in talks since 2019.
“It is very strange a case that was supposed to have happened in 2016, with allegations by a Nike employee, come to light only at that moment,” she told the newspaper.
Neymar’s father accused Nike of “blackmail.”
“We were surprised by something that happened in 2016,” the senior Neymar told Brazil’s Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. “It’s all very strange now. Neymar doesn’t even know this girl, of course this came from Nike after we left.”
Nike did not give a reason when it terminated its contract with Neymar at the end of August 2020. The company had sponsored Neymar, 29, since he was a 13-year-old prodigy.
The superstar announced in September 2020 that he had signed an endorsement deal with Puma to become the German sportswear giant’s new poster boy.
Earlier this month, Neymar signed a contract extension with French champions Paris Saint-Germain that will keep him with the club until the end of the 2024-2025 season.
The Brazilian said he had “grown as a person, as a human being” since joining the club in 2017 from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($270 million) in what remains the most expensive transfer in history.
Neymar has claimed three Ligue 1 titles and two French Cups with PSG, although he has also provoked hostility from fans by saying he wanted to return to Barcelona.
His image as an eternal spoiled child was revived late last year by rumors, which he did not deny, of a giant year-end party he organized in his homeland in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
A young woman also filed a complaint against him for rape in 2019 — a case he vehemently denied and that was eventually dropped.
Source: AFP
29, May 2021
Football: Edouard Mendy is first Senegalese goalkeeper in Champions League final 0
In 2015, Senegalese Edouard Mendy was in Le Havre, northern France, desperate to find a professional club. Six years later, he could be the first African goalkeeper to play in a Champions League final.
He is poised to follow in the footsteps of the heroic Zimbabwean goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, two times finalist in the European Champions Cup with Liverpool FC in the 80s’.
The Senegalese international goalkeeper, who has kept 24 clean sheets this season, becomes a master of his future when he will appear in Porto on Saturday for his first Champions League final against Manchester City.
It will be the crowning achievement of a journey entangled with difficulties for the 29-year-old goalkeeper, who had a promising start.
Born near Le Havre, he became a goalkeeper at the age of 10 years in his neighborhood and was quickly spotted by HAC Academy.
“He had a certain talent, explosiveness, a character that allowed him to have a certain presence in the goal but also in attitude even as a discreet boy,” Michel Courel, his former coach at the HAC Academy said. “He was very diligent and very serious and was a very motivated kid”, he added.
Mendy has been a key player in Chelsea’s squad this season, with 16 clean sheets in 31 EPL games.
The Senegalese goalkeeper has also shined in Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League run, making sure no shot went past him in 8 out of 11 European games.
He hadn’t even been the first-choice goalkeeper there – he spent much of his time on the bench – and he struggled to find another club, repeatedly let down by an agent who was unable to find Mendy a new team in France or in the third tier of England, as promised.
The phone call that changed everything came in 2015 when he was offered a trial at Marseille to become the southern team’s fourth-choice goalkeeper. His pregnant girlfriend stayed in Le Havre.
“When I went down there, it was a case of just giving my absolute everything to get the opportunity to join that club,” Mendy said.
Although he wasn’t the first choice at Marseille, his career was back up and running. He moved to Reims in France’s second division in 2016 and then to Rennes in 2019.
After one season, he had done enough to convince Chelsea’s technical director, Petr Cech – a former player for Rennes and then Chelsea – to bring him to England.
“Now it is up to me to repay their interest in me.”
He has made a good start. Tall and good with the ball at his feet, Mendy already looks a massive upgrade on the erratic Kepa. Crucially, Chelsea’s defenders appear more at ease with Mendy behind them.
Mendy will look to make it three shutouts in three games when Chelsea visits Manchester United on Saturday for the standout match of the Premier League’s sixth round.
Source: Africa News