Should Neymar have been sent off for the controversial incident with the referee?

In the World Cup qualifying match between Brazil and Colombia, Neymar played a leading role. Unfortunately, however, once again the talk is more about his behaviour than his sportsmanship.

With the clash between Brazil and Colombia last night, the South American leg of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers continued in Qatar. Brazil dominated the table and could have already secured qualification for the final tournament, while Colombia are teetering on the edge of promotion joy and non-advancement disappointment. A lot was at stake. And it showed on the pitch.

Head referee Tobar Vargas of Chile handed out a total of seven yellow cards, counting twenty-one fouls to each side! There was no shortage of personal antipathy between the players, but in general the match was played in a very nervous spirit.

However, as early as the eighth minute, Brazil could (and probably should) have gone shorthanded. An angry Neymar angrily headed straight for referee Vargas and proceeded to explain his opinion of his decision from the top of his lungs.

Part of the controversial incident included the moment Neymar touched the referee’s head. This is the sort of thing that, when played out between players, often results in an immediate sending off. The fact that Neymar got out of the situation without any carding is more than surprising.

The referee’s actions can be explained by the fact that he did not want to antagonise the whole of Brazil and did not want to be the one to send Neymar to the showers before ten minutes had been played.

However, a referee is always supposed to measure everyone by the same yardstick, so the Colombians may be rightly offended that he did not show Neymar a red card.

Neymar’s outburst was yet another in a series of events that feeds into opinions about the player’s utter disregard for discipline and occasional loss of self-control. It was therefore not something that did the player any favours in the eyes of the footballing public. All the more so when the game had to be decided by Paquetá’s goal.

Source: Twitter (Ronard Addo, Goal)