Neymar says Rodrigo Nestor ‘pretended to be assaulted’ after controversial red card

Neymar has sharply criticised Bahia midfielder Rodrigo Nestor after being sent off during Santos’ match against Bahia in the 32nd round of the Brazilian league in the early hours of Sunday.

The Santos forward was shown a straight red card before the second half began after placing his hand over his mouth while speaking to Nestor in the centre circle.

Nestor immediately approached the referee to report the incident. Before play resumed, the video assistant referee called the official over to review the footage, after which Neymar was dismissed.

The referee judged the incident to fall under what has become known as the “Vinicius Junior law”, which is applied in the Brazilian league and was introduced to combat racism.

Neymar later addressed the incident in a post on his Instagram account, saying Nestor had tried to use the rule for his own benefit.

“I am not someone who talks much about what happens during a match, but what Nestor did to me is extremely serious,” Neymar said. “It is serious because this is a law created to fight racism, and he tried to benefit from it.”

He added: “I am very sad because what he did was completely dishonest. He said in the interview that he could not repeat what I had said because children were watching.

“Come on, brother, he pretended to be assaulted. I kicked the ball towards his waist, but he put his hand over his face. What example is he trying to set? He spoke about education and morals. Come on, brother, I was brought up well too. And there is something else: I am a man.”

Neymar also questioned the possible consequences of the law if players attempted to exploit it dishonestly.

“What I did was not right,” he said. “But whoever created this law needs to be careful, because dishonest actions can happen and end with something like what happened to me.

“I made a foolish mistake, didn’t I? I gave a fool the chance to attract attention. Thank you, Nestor. I will go to sleep with a clear conscience.

“But because of your dishonest behaviour, you will not sleep peacefully. No, you will not sleep peacefully.”

The comments came after a match in which the incident occurred moments before the second half was due to start, with the VAR intervention resulting in Neymar’s immediate dismissal.