BRAZIL star Neymar has defiantly doubled down on his public support for Brazil’s right wing president Jair Bolsonaro.
The football superstar, 30, threw his weight behind President Bolsonaro ahead of Sunday’s election.
Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil star Neymar posted a TikTok miming the number 22, the politician’s polling number for the election.
Over 1.7million people have liked the Brazil star’s post and the president himself publicly thanked Neymar for his support.
But Neymar wasn’t free from criticism.
The winger was slammed for supporting the controversial Bolsonaro.
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And instead of caving, Neymar doubled down and hit out at supposed democracy defenders for trying to silence or dismiss differing political opinions.
He tweeted: “They talk about democracy and a lot of things, but when someone has a different opinion, they are attacked by the very people who talk about democracy. Will understand.”
Former two-term president Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva is hoping to defeat Bolsonaro, who has expressed his admiration for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, boasts of his sexual prowess and was stabbed at a rally.
And if pre-election polls quoted in the Financial Times are correct, he will command 47 per cent of the vote, compared with 33 per cent for his rival.
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If Lula secures more than half of valid votes, which excludes blank and spoilt ballots, he can avoid a run-off at the end of October.
Neymar is not the only football star to publicly support Bolsonaro.
Tottenham’s Lucas Moura described himself as “a right-wing conservative”, and says Bolsonaro lines up closest to what he believes.
On the pitch and away from politics, Neymar is hoping to guide Brazil to a sixth World Cup.
Neymar is in fine form this season, scoring 11 and assisting eight in 11 games played.
His form comes after he was heavily criticised last term of lacklustre displays.
Brazil are one of, if not THE favourites, to win the Qatar World Cup with a star-studded team and rivals such as England, France and Germany faltering.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
