Neymar banned for three matches for covering his mouth while arguing, Santos can appeal
Brazilian star Neymar has been handed a three-match ban for covering his mouth while speaking during an argument with an opposing player.
The disciplinary committee of Brazil's sports justice court gave the decision on Wednesday (28 October) after a hearing. Neymar's club Santos, however, has the opportunity to appeal against the ruling.
The incident took place in a Brazilian league match against Bahia. Before the start of the second half, Neymar became involved in an argument with Bahia player Rodrigo Nestor. At one point, speaking with his hand covering his mouth, he was shown a straight red card by the referee.
According to the match's official report, even after being shown the red card, Neymar ran excitedly towards the Bahia bench. Over the incident, he was charged under the second clause of Article 191 of Brazil's sports justice code.
In the disciplinary committee's view, Neymar's conduct breached Rule 7 of the 'Vini Junior Protocol' mentioned in FIFA's disciplinary code. Preventing the tendency to cover the mouth to hide racist or offensive comments is one of the main purposes of this rule, the committee noted.
A straight red card already carried an automatic one-match ban for Neymar under the rules. With two more matches of punishment added, he will not be able to play in Santos's next three matches in total.
Because of this ban, Neymar may also have to sit out one match after the FIFA international break in November. Santos, however, hopes to have him back in the team for the last three rounds of the league.
