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Footballer Neymar has claimed that he was racially abused by an opponent after being among five players sent off during Paris St-Germain’s match for Marseille that ended in a massive brawl.
The world’s most expensive player received a direct red card after an altercation with Marseille defender Álvaro González when PSG lost 1-0 to bitter rivals.
Neymar was heard telling officials as he left the court that he had been racially abused, and the Brazilian star later tweeted the racist term he was supposedly called.
Neymar collided with Álvaro González from Marseille
Neymar’s teammates at PSG, Leandro Paredes and Layvin Kurzawa, also received red cards during the match, along with Marseille players Jordan Amavi and Dario Benedetto.
Marseille winger Florian Thauvin scored the winning goal in the 31st minute of a tense match that turned into chaos deep into injury time as punches and kicks were exchanged.
PSG and Marseille players fought in the final minutes of the match
Neymar was the fifth player sent off after the referee consulted the VAR, with replay footage showing the forward hitting Gonzalez on the back of the head.
When asked about Neymar’s claim of racism, Marseille coach Andre Villas-Boas said: “It’s a serious offense if that’s the case, but I don’t think so.”
“What we saw, what was visible, is that (Ángel) Di María spat (on González).”
After the game, PSG sports director Leonardo said that “the fight is something very serious.”
Three PSG players were sent off
“We will take care of that internally with our players,” he said.
“We will have to look at everything to adopt a coherent position, but the situation is dire.”
Leonardo, a former World Cup winner with Brazil, also criticized the actions of referee Jerome Brisard.
Two Marseille players received red cards
He said: “A total of 14 cards were brandished and five of them were red, which means the match got out of control.
“(Brisard) lost his mind. He led the League Cup final, but he doesn’t have the experience for these kinds of matches.”
Marseille beat PSG 1-0
Neymar had returned to PSG after recovering from coronavirus.
Di María, a former Barcelona star and winger, was among the six players who tested positive for COVID-19 after a trip to Ibiza shortly after losing the Champions League final.
Captain Marquinhos and forward Mauro Icardi also tested positive after that trip to Spain and were not on the squad. Neither was star forward Kylian Mbappé, whose positive virus test occurred on international duty with France last week.
The defeat of PSG leaves the reigning Champion of France without a win in their first two Ligue 1 games and are currently in the relegation zone.
Marseille are fifth after a second win in a row, one point behind leader Rennes.
Neymar moved to PSG from Barcelona in August 2017 for a world record transfer fee of 222 million euros (198 million pounds sterling).
