Bread and circuses. Or perhaps just circuses. That is what Neymar has been offering lately: a potential phenomenon whose football career has been worn down not only by injuries but also by a lifestyle far removed from the standards of a professional athlete.
That became clear after the disappointment of the 2022 World Cup, when Brazil were eliminated by Croatia in the quarter-finals, as it made him realise that his dream of winning the most coveted trophy had slipped away.
From that point on, including his final Champions League campaign with Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar gradually lost not only his interest in football but also his willingness to make sacrifices.
At 30, his approach to the game had become that of a spoiled boy who seemed to believe everything was owed to him and who no longer devoted himself to looking after his body. The rupture of his left knee in 2023, after his move to Al Hilal, sent him into the abyss following his decision to go into exile in Saudi Arabia.
Today, after a 2026 World Cup where he was brought along more as a mascot than as a genuine member of Carlo Ancelotti's squad, he is making headlines for something else.
While his Santos side has grown accustomed to his injury-related absences, Neymar has decided to take a position on the upcoming election, which is dominating headlines in Brazil as Flavio Bolsonaro and Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva face each other in a run-off on Sunday, November 25th.
An unequivocal endorsement
In the first round of votes, Neymar was involved in an episode that captured his superficiality perfectly.
At the polling station, he formed the number 22 with his hands - the symbol of the Liberal Party on the ballot - and recorded the whole thing on video. His support for the former president's son, who is now in prison, was hardly unexpected. In 2022, the footballer had publicly announced his support for Jair Bolsonaro with a pathetic and unmistakable dance.
On that occasion, he became the first active Selecao player to take such an explicit position in an election of such importance. Alongside him, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, although they had already been retired for some time, had also backed Bolsonaro's candidacy. That sits uneasily with their humble origins, given the conservative politician's platform and his clear lack of concern for the struggles of ordinary people.
Resentment
Four years ago, before the decisive run-off, the former Barcelona player also took part in a more than hour-long livestream alongside Jair Bolsonaro.
On that occasion, he explained that he had made that choice because he shared the values - family, freedom and faith - in which Bolsonaro believed. He also publicly thanked the politician for supporting him personally during the most difficult moments of his life.
After all, when Brazil won the 2019 Copa America - the only trophy he won with the national team - the same Bolsonaro had gone onto the pitch to appear in the winning squad's photograph.
Dani Alves lifted the trophy in that picture. In recent years, Alves has come under intense scrutiny over a rape case and has also expressed his support for the former president's son in the current election.
The Santos player may also have taken exception to a remark by Lula, who joked at the start of the North American World Cup: "Neymar? He's the world's first work-from-home call-up."
His resentment towards a president who helped create a middle class in a country of more than 200 million people, where social inequality remains a constant tragedy, is the attitude of a spoilt child whose family was struggling financially when he was young.
Today, the man who was supposed to be an example of personal triumph - and of how someone from humble beginnings can truly become an idol to children - has shed the image of a footballer and taken on that of just another influencer. His reputation had already been worn down for years.
The latest incident on a major football stage saw him try to pick a fight with Martin Odegaard late in the match when Brazil lost to Norway in the round of 16, transforming himself from playmaker into brawler.
The Selecao's all-time leading scorer, Neymar, has thrown away a career that could have belonged to a top-level player, choosing the high life over hard work. And, up to a point, that is his choice.
What hurts, however, is seeing that even now, when he is giving football nothing anymore, he remains completely out of touch with ordinary people's concerns. His outright support for Bolsonaro speaks for itself. It confirms that he has completely forgotten where he came from.