Entertainment

Neymar skips Ballon d’Or and streams himself playing Call of Duty

The world’s most expensive player placed 12th in the men’s awards.
The world’s most expensive player placed 12th in the men’s awards. The world’s most expensive player placed 12th in the men’s awards.

It’s fair to say it’s been a mixed year for Neymar.

The world’s most expensive player had a great season domestically with Paris Saint-Germain but suffered disappointment in a World Cup where he was better remembered by many for his theatrics than his football.

That resulted in a disappointing placing of 12th in the men’s Ballon d’Or awards on Monday. And as the stars of the world game arrived on the red carpet in Paris, Neymar opted not to make the short journey to the gala, instead streaming himself playing Call of Duty.

Neymar, 26, is one of a host of sport stars and celebrities to have broadcast themselves playing video games on streaming platform Twitch.

Neymar streaming himself on Twitch (Twitch)
Neymar streaming himself on Twitch (Twitch) Neymar streaming himself on Twitch (Twitch) (Stephen Jones)

The Brazilian striker doesn’t seem set to exchange his boots for a headset full-time – his character was killed within 10 minutes of the stream starting.