Neymar Reacts After Bizarre Red Card for Santos vs Botafogo

Neymar has now broken his silence after receiving one of the strangest red cards of the season. The focus on Sunday was initially centred around the former Barcelona winger’s return to Santos’ starting lineup for the first time since mid-April, as his boyhood club welcomed last season’s Brazilian champions, Botafogo, to the Estadio Urbano Caldeira.

Santos are looking a little worse for wear after 11 games this season, and having only picked up two victories so far, they were hoping to get back on track at the weekend. However, in a bizarre moment, everything changed. Already booked late in the first-half, Neymar was shown a second yellow in the 76th minute after deliberately handling the ball in an attempt to knock in a rebound. Watch the incident below:

Referee Davi de Oliveira had no option but to show the 33-year-old a second yellow card. Ten minutes later, Botafogo scored the only goal of the game to make the most of their numerical advantage.

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Neymar Reacts To Strange Red Card

He issued a heartfelt apology to his fans and teammates

After the match, Neymar took to Instagram to issue a heartfelt apology to both his teammates and the fans. As per World Soccer Talk, he wrote (see his untranslated post below):

Neymar also shared his frustration with the officiating, posting a second Instagram story criticising the referee: “P.S.: The second yellow was fair, but the first one, the referee was messing around. I committed one foul and already got booked. What a terrible referee, seriously. Just my opinion, please don’t punish me any further.”

The red card comes at a potentially pivotal moment in Neymar’s second spell at Santos, as his current deal expires on June 30. He’ll miss the next match against Fortaleza on June 12, and the Brasileirao will pause for the 2025 Club World Cup shortly after. Neymar’s father and agent commented on his son’s situation:

Though his contract includes an option to extend through to the 2026 World Cup, that outcome now seems unlikely thanks to his father’s comments, and he could now have played his final game for Santos.