Barcelona / Sao Paolo / Paris : Neymar, football star: "I'm accused of rape. It is a 'heavy' word, it is something very strong, but that's what's happening now. I was caught by surprise, it was very bad and very sad to listen to that, because anyone who knows me, knows of my behaviour, knows that I would never do something like that."
"What happened is exactly the opposite of what they (those accusing him) are speaking (out about). I'm very upset right now but from now on, I will publish everything, all the conversations I had with the woman, all our moments – that is something intimate but it's necessary to publish (the evidence), to prove that (it is) really nothing important. I will show you all the messages, everything that happened that day and the day after. Because what happened that day was a relationship between a man and a woman, inside four walls, something that happens with any couple. The next day nothing important happened, we kept exchanging messages, she asked me for a souvenir for her son and I was going to take it, but now, I'm caught by surprise with all that."
"This hurts not just me but all my family. It's bad because it doesn't denigrate just my image but who I am (as a person), my behaviour. I was raised very well, and to be exposed to that (accusations) is very sad, it is very bad. I'm talking to you openly here (to show) you that I'm very upset but I have to prove what is the truth. And, I am like that, I'm myself, I'm the truth. So if it is to expose things that happens in our day, I will expose them."
"It's very sad to believe the world is like that, that there are people who want to take advantage, want to extort other people. It's really sad and painful. But because I'm in this situation, I'm explaining to you now with a video of more than three minutes. So, I hope it's clear, I hope investigators will look at the messages and see what really happened."
"With sadness and pain I record this video explaining all that, it's a very upsetting situation not just for me but for my family. I want to apologise to my family for putting them in this situation, because I did not want it but I was forced to that. It was something that happened, it was a setup and I was caught out, but it has to be a lesson (learned) from now on."
Football star Neymar published a seven-minute video on instagram on Sunday to explain his relationship with an unidentified woman who accused him of raping her in Paris last month.
The video included WhatsApp messages he says he exchanged with the accuser in a friendly way days later.