The well-known Brazilian footballer Neymar Junior received a serious punishment for his on-field behavior: he covered his face during a dispute with an opposing player. The Brazilian sports tribunal assigned him an additional two-match ban.
Since Neymar was already under sanctions for receiving a yellow card, he will now be excluded from a total of three matches. This incident occurred during the match between Bahia and Santos on October 25th.
The reason for the measures taken by the tribunal is related to a special protocol introduced after the incident involving Vinicius Junior, the star of Real Madrid. The tribunal ruled that Neymar Junior's actions of covering his face during a dispute with an opponent violated this protocol.
It should be recalled that earlier this year, Vinicius Junior accused his opponent of making a racist comment while his face was covered. Following this situation, a protocol was developed to restrict the behavior of players who cover their faces in such circumstances.
The sanctions related to the yellow card already prevented Neymar Junior from playing in the Brazilian league match against Palmeiras on Wednesday (October 28th). The addition of two matches of suspension for the face-covering incident means his return may be postponed until the end of November.
Nevertheless, Neymar Junior and the club Santos have the opportunity to appeal this decision. The exact status of the ban will only become clear after the appeal decision is issued. Currently, this decision complicates Santos's situation, as the team will have to play subsequent matches without its experienced star.