Neymar branded 'pathetic' for showing support for Brazilian president Bolsonaro | indy100

Neymar shows support for Brazilian President Bolsonaro

Neymar

Neymar, the biggest name in Brazilian football, has shown support for the nation's controversial rigt-wing president Jair Bolsonaro ahead of the country’s upcoming election.

The far-right incumbent is facing off against leftist former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has been ahead in the polls leading up to Sunday’s vote.

However, footballer Neymar could yet have an impact on proceedings.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward, who has 121 caps for the national side, showed his support by dancing to Bolsonaro’s campaign music.

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A video circulating around the web sees the 30-year-old declared that he’ll vote for Bolsonaro by holding his fingers to show the number 22 – Bolsonaro’s voting code.

\u201c\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7Neymar has declared that he'll vote for incumbent President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro in Sunday's election.\n\nThe PSG footballer posted a video dancing to Bolsonaro's campaign track and held his fingers up to mime his voting code - the number '22'.\n\nhttps://t.co/4Rx3Sttlow\u201d
— Sam Street (@Sam Street) 1664523907

However, reaction to the news has not been particularly positive given Bolsanaro's divisive politics and tenure as president.

\u201cNeymar will be voting for far-right Jair Bolsonaro in Sunday\u2019s Brazilian presidential election. So disappointing.\u201d
— Alan Feehely (@Alan Feehely) 1664482334

\u201cNeymar doesn\u2019t know shit about politics. He\u2019s helping Bolsonaro out because he\u2019s friends with him and Bolsonaro done him some favours before. Thing is when your status is so high and you\u2019re unaffected by who is in power, your reality isn\u2019t the same as the real world.\u201d
— Mr. Maestro (@Mr. Maestro) 1664520762

\u201cneymar is pathetic \nbolsonaro is pathetic\u201d
— TRICK (@TRICK) 1664502020

\u201cNeymar has to be this stupid and support Bolsonaro like what are you doing \ud83e\udd2e\u201d
— \ud83e\udd85 (@\ud83e\udd85) 1664486815

\u201cShameful NeymarToday the Brazilian people suffer with the choices of a madman, Bolsonaro. Thousands died during the pandemic and 30 million Brazilians are hungry. The Amazon is burning, the Indians are being massacred.The choice of Neymar shows his lack of humanity. #neymar\u201d
— Heberson Oliveira (@Heberson Oliveira) 1664521586

It’s no great surprise, especially after Bolsonaro enlisted the help of Neymar on a campaign stop Wednesday, just four days before the country's general elections.

Bolsonaro visited a non-profit youth institute set up by Neymar in the city of Praia Grande and took a call from the player, who thanked him and said he was proud of him.

Neymar threw his weight behind the incumbent PresidentGetty

This weekend’s election marks a huge moment in Brazil’s political history, as the two frontrunners have mostly harped on their experience and railed against each other.

It comes after four years of far-right politics led by a president who has been criticised for how he has handled the Covid-19 pandemic that killed nearly 700,000 people and an economic recovery that has yet to be felt by the poor.

“Both candidates are very well known, the vote is very crystallized," said Nara Pavão, who teaches political science at the Federal University of Pernambuco, adding that most voters made up their minds long ago.

It comes after Bolsonaro was criticised for filming a video in which he expressed his shock at UK petrol prices while visiting for the Queen’s funeral.

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