Football: Brazilian star Neymar denies Nike's claim he was dumped over alleged sexual assault

Neymar has been accused of forcing a Nike employee to perform oral sex on him in a New York hotel room in 2016. Photo / Photosport

Neymar was ditched by Nike for refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into accusations he tried to force one of its staff to perform a sex act him, the sportswear giant has claimed.

The world's most expensive player took to Instagram to call the company a "liar" following the explosive allegation, while his father accused it of "blackmail".

Neymar was previously accused of rape by another woman in 2019 in a case that was dropped over a lack of evidence.

Nike, which split from the 29-year-old in August having signed him when he was just 13, said it had "commissioned an independent investigation" after one of its employees complained he had tried to force her to perform oral sex in a New York hotel room in 2016.

It 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 company, which said it had been "deeply disturbed" by its employee's claims, also announced that its investigation had been "inconclusive".

It said the employee had initially reported the alleged incident to it in 2018 but wanted to avoid an investigation and keep it confidential, adding: "As her employer, we had a responsibility to respect her privacy and did not believe it was appropriate to share that information with law enforcement or any third party without the employee's consent."

It said it "acted immediately" when the alleged victim changed her mind, adding: "We continue to respect the confidentiality of the employee and also recognise that this has been a long and difficult experience for her."

In a Wall Street Journal article detailing the assault allegation, a spokeswoman for Neymar said: "Neymar Jr. will vigorously defend himself against these baseless attacks in case any claim is presented, which did not happen so far."

She said Nike and Neymar – who signed for Puma two weeks after they split – had parted ways for commercial reasons. Neymar branded claims to the contrary "absurd", adding of the inquiry: "I wasn't given a chance to defend myself."

Neymar's father accused Nike of "blackmail", telling Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper: "We were surprised by something that happened in 2016. "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 respond to requests for comment about Neymar's father's claims. This month, Neymar signed a contract extension with French champions Paris Saint-Germain to keep him with the club until the end of the 2024-25 season.

He said he had "grown as a person, as a human being" since joining them from Barcelona in 2017 for $NZ374 million in the most expensive transfer in history.