Superstar Neymar was mistakenly approved to receive a $120 (Dh440) welfare payment meant for low-paid Brazilian workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report.
In an apparent case of identity theft, the Paris Saint-Germain star's name, date of birth and Brazilian ID number were used to register for the payment from the federal government, news site UOL reported.
The emergency payments are meant to help Brazilians employed in the informal sector whose jobs and incomes have vanished with stay-at-home measures to contain the virus.
Neymar's estimated earnings at PSG this year were $95.5m, after his record transfer of € 222m (Dh915m).
According to UOL, the application in his name "was initially approved and scheduled for payment... before being frozen and placed 'under evaluation' due to indications it failed to meet the requirements".
UOL reported that Neymar's staff said the Brazilian "obviously never applied for this benefit, and does not know who would have done so."
Brazil is one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. It has the third-highest death toll globally, at more than 34,000, behind only the US and Britain.
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Neymar and other stars and their bling
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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