Neymar at an event at Doha Stadium, February 2015 by Vinod Divakaran – Wikimedia Commons

8 Things to Know about Neymar Jr’s Controversial Dad


 

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior popularly recognized as Neymar Jr is one of the world’s best professional football players. The PSG star who plays primarily as a winger also plays for the Brazillian national side. He recently led his side to the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup where they were eliminated by Croatia on penalties.

Besides being a huge football star, Neymar the person and the name is a brand. He is worth upward of $200 million thanks to his hefty salary, and numerous endorsement deals. You might be wondering how Neymar has grown to this level of global recognition.

Well, it is in no small part to his dad, Neymar Santos Sr. who has worked tirelessly alongside Neymar. Neymar Sr. is the man behind the man. To get as far as he has managed to get his son, he has clashed with several high-profile individuals and organizations in sports and legal circles.

However, in doing so, he has managed to take his son to the very top as well as make some ridiculous amounts of money for himself in the process. This has made him a very controversial figure in the sports and footballing world.

Below are some details about the life and career of Neymar’s father, agent, and manager, Neymar Santos Sr.

1. He is A Former Professional Player

Neymar is not the only footballer in the family as his father too tried to build a career as a professional footballer. However, Neymar Sr. as a footballer is the definition of a journeyman. A journeyman in sports refers to an athlete who is reliable but not so much outstanding.

Unlike his son who is a global star, Neymar sr. played in the lower leagues of the Brazilian football league pyramid. At the time of Neymar’s birth (1992), he was playing in Mogi das Cruzes, an industrial suburb on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

2. Ended His Footballing Career After a Car Accident

In June 1992, as the Neymar family was driving, their car collided violently with another vehicle. Neymar Jr, then 4 months old, was in the car and survived the accident but was ejected from the baby seat in the back seat and rolled under the co-driver seat getting only a minor bruise.Neymar Sr was injured severely from the accident and was bedridden for a while which brought an anticlimactic end to his low-level league career. His wife, Neymar’s mother was not badly injured.

With the end of his career, it meant a loss of the family’s main source of income. Even with him as a player, the family was struggling financially but now the situation got worse.

3. Former Santos President Accused Him of Betrayal

Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, popularly recognized as LAOR, was the former Santos president. He was a cheerful man loved by many and a close acquaintance of Neymar Sr. In fact, LAOR publicly claimed that Neymar Sr should have been awarded the Nobel prize for economics.

He said, “he went from a traffic officer to becoming one of the most powerful men in world football.” However, toward the end of his life, the relationship between the two had turned sour due to Neymar Jr’s controversial move from Santos to Barcelona.

According to reports, Santos received just €17.1 million in a move that was revealed to have cost Barcelona €86.2 million. Neymar Sr and his family pocketed around €40 million which the former president was not impressed by. In a two-page posthumous letter in 2016, LAOR condemns the actions of Neymar’s father during the transfer.

4. Delcir Sonda Accused Neymar Sr. of Defrauding Him

Delcir Sonda is the founder of the Sonda supermarket chain and investment group DIS Esporte. Before Neymar became a football star, before he had even played a professional game for Santos, Sonda bought 40% of Neymar Jr’s image and economic rights.

Sonda claims that the move to Barcelona was carried out illegally and that Neymar Sr sold Neymar’s rights which were not his to sell. Sonda filed a lawsuit against Neymar Sr. and Barcelona accusing him and the club of defrauding him and DIS Esporte. In Diario AS Newsletter, Sonda said,” I could come to forgive Neymar but his father? Never.”

5. Several Lawsuits Against Him

Courtroom by David Mark from Pixabay

Other than Sonda, LAOR, and DIS, Neymar’s father has clashed heads with several other people in the footballing world. One of them is Eduardo Musa, one of his former right-hand men who sued the Neymar family.

Musa was nicknamed ‘Neymar’s Guardian Angel’ when they worked together. From the lawsuit, Musa received around €700,000 as a settlement.

Another individual who has rubbed shoulders with Neymar senior is Marcos Malaquias. Malaquias is a football agent who was influential and helpful during Neymar’s move from Santos to Barcelona. After the move, he fell off with Neymar Sr. Both Musa and Malaquias speak fondly of Neymar but have only harsh words for his father.

6. He Made €26 million From Neymar Extending His Contract at Barcelona

Neymar during his presentation as a player of Futbol Club Barcelona at Camp Nou by Catalan Basque – Wikimedia Commons

In 2016, Neymar Sr. renegotiated his son’s contract with Barcelona FC. As payment for convincing his son to sign the deal, he received a commission of €26 million according to Luis Miguel Sanz of Sport.

Barcelona later contested the commission but the deal had already put pen to paper and they had to pay up. The board came under scrutiny for the deal especially after increasing Neymar’s release clause by only 10%. As we know now, this decision came to cost them dearly.

7. He Brokered Neymar’s Move To PSG

Neymar Jr official presentation for Paris Saint-Germain by
Antoine Dellenbach – Wikimedia Commons

Merely a year after securing Neymar’s big payday in Catalonia as well as his huge commission, Neymar Sr was brokering a move to Paris. In what remains the most expensive transfers in football history, Neymar’s dad was the driving factor.

Reportedly, Neymar Sr and Jr, alongside their legal team, paid the €222 million release clause themselves to guarantee the move was completed. The move shattered what had been a budding relationship with Barca and their fans and more or less villainized Neymar in their eyes.

8. Close Relationship with His Son

Neymar Sr. has managed his son since he was a child in the Santos academy. However, at the time he was managing Neymar alongside Wagner Ribeiro. Ribiero was handed a five-year sentence for tax evasion and his Neymar Sr took charge of all things Neymar from then on.

The two have been close all their lives and from the 2022 documentary titled; Neymar: The Perfect Chaos, we got a look into their relationship. In the documentary, Neymar describes how, in the beginning, having his father watch him from the stands was like having an angel and a devil perched on each shoulder. “In the past, we had more of a father/son relationship, but we’ve drifted. We’re still close of course, but I think it’s more on the professional side.”

Although there are differing views on Neymar Sr., even his fervent detractors acknowledge the unwavering, passionate protection he has given his son ever since he first had a ball at his feet.

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