Brazilian star Neymar Jr has faced a wave of criticism on social media following a controversial statement he made on Friday.
Neymar expressed his anger – after his team Santos beat Remo 2-0 in the Brazilian league – at referee Sávio Pereira Sampaio, who showed him a yellow card in the closing minutes, meaning he will be suspended for the upcoming match against Flamengo.
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Neymar said in post-match comments to the press: “Anyway, this referee too… I think he woke up on his period and came to the match in that state.”
This remark sparked widespread outrage as it was deemed a discriminatory insult, linking poor performance or a bad mood to women’s menstrual cycles, which many described as a “misogynistic” comment.
For its part, the British newspaper The Sun reported that the former Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona star faces a 12-match ban over the remark.