Neymar has been banned for two matches for hitting the back of Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez in Sunday’s French Ligue 1 bad-tempered match.
The match between Marseille and Paris Saint Germain which took place at Parc des Princes saw 17 yellow cards. The cards didn’t change the temper of the players as the players on both sides went out of control exchanging words and even going physical.
It became fiercer in the additional minute of the Le Classique which Marseille won 1-0. The referee of the match Jerome Brisard had no other options than to issue five red cards within the injury-time.
The referee had to wait for the intervention of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) which pointed out that Neymar hit the back of Alvaro Gonzalez’s head during the brawl before the referee showed him the last red card of the match.
The other four players that were sent off included: PSG‘s Layvin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes; Marseille’s Jordan Amavi and Dario Benedetto.
After their meeting on Wednesday, the governing body of professional French football, Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), announced different degrees of punishment for the five players that were red-carded.
Neymar got a two-match ban, his club teammates: Layvin Kurzawa got a six-match ban, Leandro Paredes got a two-match ban. On the other hand, the two Marseille players that were red-carded, Jordan Amavi got a three-match ban while Dario Benedetto got a one-match ban.
Neymar is banned but still has a date with LFP alongside Di Maria
During the fierce Ligue 1 match, Neymar was spotted running to the fourth official to report that Alvaro Gonzalez was making some racial comments. However, no action was carried out against him until Neymar failed to control his temper and landed his hands on the back of the Marseille’s star.
Still, Neymar took the racial abuse allegation to Twitter but Gonzalez insisted that he didn’t make any racially motivated comment. His club also backed him up that he is not a racist.
However, LFP has confirmed that Neymar’s racial abuse claims will be investigated. Besides that, the 28-year-old Brazilian football star and his club teammate Angel di Maria have been summoned to appear before LFP’s disciplinary committee on 23 September to clarify whether Di Maria spat at Gonzalez.
