NEYMAR has slammed a Champions League referee for a “lack of respect” after being booked for celebrating.
The 30-year-old superstar was carded after performing his trademark celebration in front of home fans during Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-1 win over Maccabi Haifa.
The Brazilian forward has lashed out on social media at ref Daniel Siebert for lacking respect.
He even told fans on Twitter he will WARN officials next time he celebrates.
The PSG star wrote: “Total lack of respect for the athlete. This kind of thing can’t happen.. I take the yellow for simply not having done anything and I’m still harmed.
“And the judge? Not even to say he was wrong, he will! a lot of lack of respect.
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“Another victory, congratulations, but we move on right? There it is; a celebration is a yellow card, another one for the list for NJ [Neymar] haha, it’s only with me that these things happen to.
“Next time I will warn the referees that I am going to do it.”
However, later it was claimed Siebert said sorry afterwards.
Neymar told A Bola: “I just met the referee and talked to him. He apologised. But now I already have the yellow card.
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“This is a complete lack of respect for the players. The referees have to be there to protect us. What happened to me today is very sad.
“Football is getting boring and we can’t celebrate. This is a lack of respect not only for me, but for football.”
Neymar scored a one-on-one in the 88th minute of the game before being yellow carded.
It was the exclamation mark on the Ligue 1 giants’ win as they continue their strong start to the Champions League group stage.
Supporters of the No10 showed their admiration for the attacker.
One wrote: “Agreed. It’s a celebration that you do after every goal, can’t believe it’s a yellow card.”
While another tweeted: “That was totally disrespectful. But I hope that incident will keep you more focused and determined this season to win the Ballon d’Or and finally get the respect you need.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
