Neymar became the absolute focal point of Santos‘ 2-2 draw against Chapecoense—not only for scoring a brace, but also for finding himself entangled in controversy over rumors alleging he mistreated his younger teammates, accusations he ultimately stepped forward to deny.
Neymar quickly shut down the reports through a video posted to his Instagram account. “Hello guys, good Sunday to everyone. Not the Sunday we wanted, but we have to hold our heads high and keep working,” Neymar said. “Another thing, I am seeing some things coming out about me scolding the young players inside the locker room. Totally false. Whoever passed that along, please, do not do that. Do not do that; do not lie.
“Do not lie; you can ask anyone who was inside the locker room. It was a reprimand for the team. I spoke, Lucas spoke, Aarao, Gabi (Gabriel Barbosa), Brazao… Everyone. And there were reprimands, obviously, because we are competitors; we want to win. But there was no reprimand for the young players.
“I am not going to accept that. From now on, I will not accept these lies you put out on the Internet. Got it? Are we together? Please. That is all. And another thing, reprimands inside the locker room, regardless of who it is, are normal. Those who are spreading this malicious and false information do not know anything. They do not know what football is and have never been part of a squad.”
Neymar Junior of Santos
What were the rumors involving Neymar?
Even during the match, Neymar appeared visibly agitated. The former Barcelona and PSG star took center stage with his unique celebration after scoring the opening goal in the 36th minute for Santos. He celebrated with anger, directing his reaction toward his critics by first emulating playing poker before running to the corner to use the flag like a golf club in another message to his detractors.
Neymar, who received a yellow card for pushing two opponents and will miss the next match due to card accumulation, made headlines for events that took place primarily at halftime and after the final whistle—far from the cameras. Globo reported that the Brazilian international targeted two of his younger teammates, a behavior that reportedly generated discontent among the players, coaching staff, and the board of directors.
According to reports, he called Gabriel Bontempo an “idiot” and suggested he would be playing for bottom-table Chapecoense in the Brasileirao next season. He also reportedly went after Joao Ananias, questioning his technical ability after Ananias scored an own goal in the 62nd minute.
However, following the match and once the controversy surfaced, both Bontempo and Ananias publicly denied any personal confrontation with Neymar, clarifying that only a general team-wide reprimand occurred at halftime.
