Footballer Neymar has claimed that he had been racially abused by an opponent during Paris St-Germain’s match with Marseille
Brazilian footballer Neymar has claimed that he had been racially abused by an opponent after he was among five football players that were sent off during Paris St-Germain’s match with Marseille following a mass brawl between players.
The world’s most expensive player, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, received an immediate red card following an altercation with Alvaro Gonzalez, a Marseille defender, as PSG lost 1-0 to their longtime rivals.
This comes after the roof of the school bus was ripped off after it crashed into a bridge on Well House Lane in Winchester while it was taking students to their third day of the new school term on Thursday morning at the Henry Beaufort School.
Neymar was heard speaking to match officials as he walked off the pitch, saying that he had been racially abused by the opposition, with the Brazilian star later tweeting about the racist term that he was allegedly called.
Following the match, Gonzalez wrote on Twitter that “there is no place for racism”, before adding: “Sometimes you have to learn to lose and take it on the field.”
Neymar’s team-mates at PSG, Leandro Paredes and Layvin Kurzawa, both also received red cards during the match, along with two Marseille players; Jordan Amavi and Dario Benedetto.
Florian Thauvin, a winger for Marseille, scored the winning goal in the 31st minute of a very tense game which eventually descended into violence deep into stoppage time as many punches and kicks were exchanged between players from both team.
Neymar was the fifth player that was sent off after the referee consulted VAR, with replay footage showing that the striker punched Gonzalez in the back of his head.
Asked about Neymar’s racism claim, Marseille coach Andre Villas-Boas said: “It’s a serious wrongdoing if that’s the case but I don’t think so.
“What we saw, what was visible, is that (Angel) Di Maria spat (on Gonzalez).”
After the game, PSG sporting director Leonardo said “the fight is something very serious”.
“We will deal with that internally with our players,” he said.
“We will have to look at everything to take a coherent stance but the situation is serious.”
This comes after the EU has said that it has “serious concerns” about the UK’s move to override key parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement deal as Maros Sefcovic, an EU official, was speaking ahead of the emergency talks with Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, on how the changes could potentially affect Northern Ireland.
Leonardo, who is a former World Cup winner for Brazil, also criticised the actions of Jerome Brisard, the referee of the match.
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 head. He officiated the League Cup final but he doesn’t have the experience for this kind of fixture.”
PSG’s defeat to Marseille leaves the reigning French champions without a win in their first two Ligue 1 matches, while they are currently sat in the relegation zone.
Marseille are fifth after their second straight win, just one point behind the early leaders Rennes.
