Neymar’s Eve party is CANCELLED

PSG striker Neymar has reportedly cancelled the star-studded New Year’s Eve party he had allegedly organised, as Brazilian prosecutors launched an investigation into into its pandemic safety measures.  

The probe was announced late on Wednesday night following conflicting reports about the number of revellers due to attend the bash and the footballer’s insistence though advisors that he was not organising any celebrations.

Neymar reportedly cancelled the event after it received national and international attention and provoked public backlash due to the allegedly large number of guests invited. 

At the weekend Brazilian newspapers claimed the 28-year-old had organised a five-day party for 500 people despite the coronavirus pandemic at a rented mansion near his luxury home in the paradise resort of Mangaratiba near Rio de Janeiro.

Party organisers Agencia Fabrica subsequently insisted only 150 people would attend the event and it would comply with strict health rules to try to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Overnight Neymar’s lawyers insisted the footballer had nothing to do with the Agencia Fabrica party and said he would be spending New Year’s Eve with his family and physiotherapist in southern Brazil as he recovers from an ankle injury sustained earlier this month.

The PSG star has said nothing publicly but posted a photo on Wednesday showing him relaxing on a boat with a friend which he indicated had been taken on a beach in the southern state of Santa Catarina more than 600 miles south of Mangaratiba.

Rio de Janeiro state prosecutors confirmed in a statement they had asked both the footballer and the two residential estates linked to the party – Portobello in Mangaritiba where Neymar’s POUNDS six million mansion is and nearby Aero Rural Bom Jardim – for ‘urgent clarification’.

They said they were seeking information on the number of guests and the organisation of the event as well as the health measures being adopted, adding: ‘Other measures are being taken and will be adopted at the appropriate time and we will act in accordance with the current rules where irregularities and breaches of the health regulations are identified in the events publicised by the media.’

The statement added the inquiry was the result of ‘several complaints, based on information published in the press about events allegedly sponsored by the footballer Neymar.’

Local governors in Mangaratiba have also been officially notified of the prosecution inquiry, although it appeared unlikely today they can do anything to stop the event after officials said they had no legal power to legislate over events in privately-owned homes.

A spokesman for the gated estate called Portobello where Neymar owns a mansion told local press the prosecution request for information had already been answered.

The confusion surrounding the New Year’s Eve bash came as local media reported frenzied activity at an airstrip in the Aero Rural Bom Jardin estate near to Portobello.

Several Brazilian newspapers said revellers were reaching Mangaratiba in small planes and helicopters and avoiding police checkpoints set up to filter out party guests heading to the area by road.

An empty hangar is said to have been decked out to host the main party, following initial unconfirmed reports earlier this week that the New Year’s Eve disco would take place in an acoustically-protected annexe of a rented mansion in Mangaratiba and one even pointing to it being held in an underground disco Neymar had built especially for star-studded bashes.

Brazil has been one of the world’s hardest-hit countries during the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 190,000 deaths.

Its death toll puts it behind only the United States. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases currently stands at 7.5 million, more than any other country apart from the States and India.

Human rights lawyer Augusto de Arruda Botelho, one of the many people to criticise Neymar at the start of the week after reports of the party first started surfacing, tweeted at the time: ‘The idiot trophy for the day goes to Neymar for his five-day party.’

The PSG star was feared to have broken his ankle after being stretchered-off from a Ligue 1 match earlier this month.

But subsequent medical examinations were said to have been ‘reassuring’ although the 28-year-old was ruled out for the rest of 2020.

Neymar’s lavish parties have made headlines in the past.

Former Man U player Ander Herrera told earlier this year how the Brazilian split team-mates into two groups on different floors of a Paris nightclub for his 28th birthday bash in February.

Married players partied on the top floor while those who were single were set up on the bottom floor so they could ‘have a good time.’

Asked what happened at the party on Spanish TV show The Resistance, Herrera responded: ‘What didn’t happen!’

Neymar turned up for the bash at YOYO close to the Eiffel Tower looking dapper in a white hat.

Mangaratiba is one of three municipalities on the Green Coast, a chain of mountains covered by the rich Atlantic rainforest.

In front of the mountains lies the sea of the Angra dos Reis Bay. 

Up to 150 people were said to have made it to the massive event which has been internationally criticised for taking place during the coronavirus pandemic and provoked fury from locals who say it puts them at greater risk from the virus. 

The women, who arrived in Brazil from the likes of Miami and Barcelona, allegedly joined the 28-year-old at a rented mansion in the municipality of Mangaratiba on south-eastern Brazil’s Costa Verde last week.

Models Kiki Passo, Michelle Nevius and Jessica Bartlett flew in directly from Miami, invited by Neymar and his pals in an Instagram message.

They have shared photos posing on the beach at Portobello Resort e Safári, a luxury hotel five minutes away from the mansion the forward is said to be renting.

Photos posted on social media by influencer Ana Liz Bittencourt from the same hotel show the wristband that guarantees access to the five-day party, which has been estimated to have cost the football star around £568,000. 

Brazilian models Camila Remedy and Fernanda Brum were also alleged to be among those in town for the star-studded bash, arriving by private jet from the southern city of Porto Alegre.

‘Let’s go by jet to end the year with glamour,’ they posted on Instagram. 

The footballer has avoided posting about the party on Instagram where he boasts 144 million followers.

Neymar has also denied flouting Covid-19 rules to host the party, which at its peak is said to have involved 150 people.

But eyewitnesses have claimed to see scores of guests arriving and leaving, with their host reportedly banning mobile phones to keep the bash secret and also sound-proofing an annexe of the mansion to prevent neighbours hearing the noise.

CNN Brasil reported that Neymar’s representatives denied the party is taking place at all but the City of Mangaratiba has criticised him for ‘hurting sanitary principles’.

Brazil is one of the countries worst affected by the pandemic, with the third-highest number of cases and second-highest number of deaths in the world. 

The coronavirus death toll in Brazil recently surpassed 190,000, behind only the United States in the global tally. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases stands at 7.5million, more than any other country except the USA and India.

In a statement, the local authority said it was ‘not officially notified of the party and that an event for 500 people should, at least, have been notified to the municipality.’

A source from the local government told CNN: ‘There is no way to legislate at a particular event but if Neymar has a party here (Mangaratiba), he is seriously hurting sanitary principles, the decrees in force and the recommendations of city hall to only hold small family parties.

‘The population is dissatisfied with the party and the repercussions involving the name of the city. The event is a sanitary disrespect and totally absurd.’

Neymar’s 10,000 square metre property boasts six suites, a helipad, tennis court, heated underground cellar with capacity for 3,000 bottles of wine, an underground nightclub, a spa with heated jacuzzi, steam sauna, massage room, gym and jetty for motorboats.

CNN said local hotels had reported a spike in bookings from guests attending the party.

Those invited to the bash reportedly include his sister Rafaella Santos and Brazilian influencer Camila Loures.

Neymar’s last Instagram post two days ago showed him with his family, including his son Davi Luca, nine, and his divorced parents in front of a Christmas tree surrounded with presents.

The PSG star was feared to have broken his ankle after being taken off on a stretcher during a Ligue 1 match clash with Lyon earlier this month.

Subsequent medical examinations were said to have been ‘reassuring’, although the 28-year-old was ruled out for the rest of 2020.

Neymar’s lavish parties have made headlines in the past.

Former Manchester United player Ander Herrera revealed earlier this year how the Brazilian split team-mates into two groups on different floors of a Paris nightclub for his 28th birthday bash in February.

Married players partied on the top floor while those who were single were set up on the bottom floor so they could ‘have a good time’.

Asked what happened at the party on Spanish TV show The Resistance, Herrera responded: ‘What didn’t happen!’

Neymar turned up for the bash at YOYO close to the Eiffel Tower looking dapper in a white hat.

Mangaratiba is one of three municipalities on the Green Coast, a chain of mountains covered by the rich Atlantic rainforest.

In front of the mountains lies the sea of the Angra dos Reis Bay.