Bit by bit the reasons for the four-match ban placed upon Neymar by CONMEBOL are being revealed. The Brazil star will miss the rest of the Copa América and this newspaper has been told that the Barcelona player made strong and abusive comments towards referee Enrique Osses, in charge of the match between Brazil ands Colombia, numerous times in the tunnel after the match. Neymar insulted the referee with abusive language up to five times and grabbed him by the neck. In the end David Luiz had to separate the striker from the official as others watched on.
CONMEBOL took their time to come to a final decision. The accumulation of a yellow card and red card for kicking the ball at Pablo Armero was going to see him miss two games but that was reduced to one. However, what happened to the referee after the match was saved for the following day. In a hotel in Santiago, the disciplinary panel decided to extend the ban to three games, four in total. The player was also fined $10,000.The Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) were prepared for what was coming. They knew what Neymar did would bring with it a strong penalty.
Now the CBF has 24 hours to appeal the ban although it will prove difficult. According to eyewitnesses, the punishment is actually shorter than expected given how serious the incident was and the rules and regulations set out to deal with such instances. Neymar, rattled after seeing his side lose to Colombia, was deliberate in his act of aggressiveness towards the referee. The decision from CONMEBOL, which will see the player miss the rest of the tournament, would also have brought the same response from all the footballing bodies from South America.