Nelly Yoa fights charges of assault in Ballarat Magistrates’ Court

Serial fantasist Nelly Yoa is fighting allegations he posted a $500 bounty on a former soccer teammate who he claimed was a Nazi.

Nelly Yoa is fighting assault charges.

Serial fantasist Nelly Yoa is fighting assault charges and allegations he posted a $500 bounty on Instagram for the capture of a former soccer teammate, claiming he was a Nazi.

Yoa, 32, appeared via video link in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, and is challenging allegations he slapped and threatened to bash an 18-year-old former teammate at a Wendouree gym on August 19, 2019, before posting a $500 reward for his capture on Instagram.

A story was allegedly posted from Yoa’s Instagram account which tagged the teenager, included a photo of him and claimed he was racist, a Nazi and had said “all black people deserve to burn in hell”.

The father-of-three has previously made headlines for crashing the Brownlow Medal red carpet and making wild claims including that Usain Bolt was present at the birth of his child and that he was a brand ambassador for Nike and American Express.

These tales have since been proven false.

Stephanie Wallace, for Yoa, told the court the prosecution could not prove that it had been her client who made the post.

Ms Wallace said Yoa was disputing the alleged assault, which police say was captured on the gym’s CCTV, as the contact between the men had been “touching” rather than a slap to the face.

The court heard Yoa declined to comment in a police interview but claimed the teen was “obsessed with him” and that he was a “social commentator on all TV channels”.

Yoa also claimed the 18-year-old had sent him text messages about his skin colour and where he came from, but could not provide the messages to police or remember what had been written.

The court heard the messages had still not been provided.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Steve Repac said the teen had told police he was fearful of being attacked as a result of the Instagram post as Yoa’s account had more than 110,000 followers.

Yoa is charged with assault and harassment. A charge of incitement was withdrawn.

He remains on bail and will return to court for a contest hearing on March 2, 2021.