Neymar accuses Bahia’s Rodrigo Nestor of exploiting anti-racism rule after red card

Neymar has strongly criticised Bahia midfielder Rodrigo Nestor after being sent off during Santos’ Brazilian league match 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 Neymar’s action. Before play restarted, the video assistant referee called the official to review the incident. The referee then dismissed Neymar, judging the gesture to fall under the so-called “Vinicius Junior law”, which is applied in the Brazilian league to address racist behaviour.

Neymar later responded in a post on Instagram, questioning the circumstances of his dismissal and accusing Nestor of deliberately using a rule introduced to combat racism.

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

The forward said he was particularly upset by Nestor’s conduct and disputed the Bahia player’s account of the incident.

“I am very sad because what he did was completely dishonest,” Neymar added. “He said in the interview that he could not repeat what I had said because there were children watching. Come on, brother, he pretended to have been assaulted.

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

Neymar also warned that the regulation could be vulnerable to abuse if players used it dishonestly.

“What he did is not acceptable,” he said. “Whoever created this law needs to be careful, because dishonest actions can happen and end with something like what happened to me.

“I did something stupid, didn’t I? I gave an idiot a chance to get 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 incident occurred during the meeting between Santos and Bahia in the 32nd round of the Brazilian league. Neymar’s dismissal came after the exchange with Nestor and the subsequent review by the video assistant referee, rather than during an active passage of play.