Neymar was sent off for breaking a rarely-seen rule after an incident with a player who called him out on live TV.
Neymar Jr was sent off while playing for Santos in their 1-1 draw against Bahia in Brazil’s top league after an incident with an opponent who had criticized him during half-time. The 34-year-old, now nearing the end of his second season back in Brazil, received a red card just as the second half began, with Santos trailing 1-0.
Right after the break, Neymar approached Bahia midfielder Rodrigo Nestor, and they seemed to exchange some words. Earlier, Nestor had spoken about Neymar during the break in a way that upset the star. Things quickly got heated, and Neymar was shown a straight red card by the referee.
The officials used a new rule made for the 2026 World Cup: if a player covers their mouth while talking to an opponent and says something mean, they can get a straight red card. At first, Neymar and Nestor looked like they were joking around as the second half started, with Neymar even smiling as he kicked off. But then Neymar turned back to Nestor and covered his mouth while speaking.
Nestor alerted the referee right away. After checking the VAR, the referee decided to send Neymar off. This led to chaos on the sidelines as both teams got involved in a big fight, with Neymar even pushing Bahia’s coach Rodrigo Ceni.
Speaking to Brazilian channel SporTV at half-time, Nestor said Neymar had said disrespectful things to him and his team’s jersey during the first half. “My parents raised me well, and I’m proud to wear the Bahia jersey,” Nestor said. “He knows what he said. He’s a football legend, but today he acted wrongly. You shouldn’t say things like that.”
Nestor didn’t want to share exactly what Neymar said because “there are kids watching.” Neymar, a former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star, later admitted in a post-match interview that covering his mouth was a mistake but claimed he didn’t say anything to Nestor.