Neymar makes £775,000 donation to fight COVID-19

Neymar has been revealed as the anonymous donor who gave 5 million Brazilian real (£775,000/$950,000) to charity to fight coronavirus.

The Paris Saint-Germain star split the donation between UNICEF and a benefit fund in his home nation of Brazil to aid in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Neymar had made the generous gesture without putting his name to it, however, Brazilian television channel SBT revealed that the national team striker had made the donation.

The revelation was made on SBT programme Fofocolizando, which said: “He preferred not to publicly disclose the donation, so we’re telling everyone, because we like to talk when a person does something nice.

“We have this information, we really think it’s a very cool, very positive attitude, and one that serves as an incentive for other sportsmen, for other personalities.”

It comes as teams and players around the world make gestures and donations in the battle against coronavirus, including forgoing large parts of their salaries to either donate to charity or ensure non-playing members of club staff are not laid off, with football postponed around the world to try and stop the virus spreading.