Neymar says referee threatened him, fumes at substitution in Santos defeat

The night of this Sunday was not good for Neymar and company. At Maracanã, Santos was defeated by Flamengo 3-2 and still remains in the relegation zone of the Brazilian Championship . The number 10 of Peixe was involved in controversial moments during the match, when, for example, he reported threats from referee Sávio Pereira Sampaio during the halftime.

“He is very bad (Sávio). And besides being bad, with all due respect, he is arrogant. Every time they (referees) go to the locker room, they say that the captain is the only one who can talk to the referee. Then when you go to talk to him, he turns his back and runs away. You go to talk to him and receive a threat. I got a yellow card because he threatened me. He said: ‘If you come near me, I will give you a yellow card.’ I asked why, because for me it was a foul on Brazão at the beginning of their (Flamengo's) goal play. These are mistakes that refereeing in Brazil has been making a lot. I reiterate, the arrogance of the referee this Sunday is horrible,” said Neymar , in an interview with Premiere .

– Sunday, 9 November 2025

Neymar returned as a starter this Sunday after being rested against Palmeiras at Allianz Parque. The number 10 recently came back from an injury and, by choice of Vojvoda's staff, did not play the full 90 minutes at Maracanã.

With 40 minutes into the second half, Neymar left the field for Benjamín Rollheiser to come in. The number 10 questioned the technical staff about the late substitution and why he did not stay until the end of the game.

Shortly after, Neymar kicked a small water cup on the sideline. The liquid splashed on some of Peixe's substitutes, such as forward Tiquinho Soares.

Photo: Publicity / Santos

This season for Santos , Neymar played 23 games, scoring six goals and providing three assists.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.