Neymar Sent Off Against Bahia After VAR Reviews Hand-Over-Mouth Gesture

Neymar was sent off before the second half of Santos’ match against Bahia on Saturday, October 24, after covering his mouth with his hand while speaking to Bahia midfielder Rodrigo Nestor. The referee did not see the gesture at first, but reviewed it after an alert from the video assistant referee and showed Neymar a straight red card.

The decision left Santos with 10 players for the second half at Vila Belmiro. Santos went on to draw 1-1, equalizing in stoppage time through Luan Peres after Luciano Juba had put Bahia ahead.

What the referee reviewed

Neymar and Nestor had clashed earlier in the Brazilian league match. In the first half, Neymar threw the ball toward Nestor after a foul and received a yellow card during the ensuing dispute.

The two spoke again as the teams prepared for the second half. Neymar put a hand over his mouth while addressing Nestor, who drew the officials’ attention to the exchange. Referee Sávio Pereira Sampaio had not seen Neymar cover his mouth. After VAR alerted him, Sampaio watched the footage and issued the red card before play restarted.

The referee applied a measure known in Brazilian football as the “Vini Jr protocol.” It allows a player to be sent off for intentionally covering their mouth while confronting an opponent. The measure is intended to address situations in which a player’s words may be hidden from cameras. The red card was for the gesture in the confrontation; the footage did not establish what Neymar said.

Neymar denies making an offensive remark

Neymar acknowledged covering his mouth but disputed any suggestion that he had said something offensive. Speaking as he left the field, he said he and Nestor had been joking and laughing. He said putting his hand over his mouth was a mistake, but maintained that he had not said anything when Nestor raised his hand to call attention to it.

Nestor had said at halftime that Neymar spoke to him disrespectfully during their earlier dispute. Nestor did not publicly repeat the words he said Neymar had used. His account of the first-half confrontation and the later hand-over-mouth incident should not be treated as proof of what Neymar said in the exchange reviewed by VAR.

Neymar’s first-half booking was his third yellow card of the league campaign’s current suspension cycle. Together with the red card, the bookings mean he is set to miss Santos’ next two matches: the home game against Palmeiras on Wednesday, October 28, and the following game against Bragantino on Monday, November 2.