Santos Star Neymar In Hot Water For Insulting Referee On Twitter

The prodigy is alleged to have called a ref a 'thief' via the social networking site, and could face a spell on the sidelines...

By Daniel Edwards

Santos forward Neymar could find himself in trouble with the Brazilian disciplinary bodies, after a message was left on his twitter account criticising referee Sandro Meira during the Peixe loss to Vitoria at the weekend.

The 18-year-old, who took no part in the game after picking up a knock midweek, allegedly posted the offensive message on his twitter page just after Meira had awarded a penalty against his side on the way to a 4-2 defeat. "This ref thief will leave in a police van", was the Brazil international's judgement on the penalty decision.

And Globoesporte report today that the comment could leave Neymar facing as much as a four match ban from the Brasileirao, as officials in the STJD took a dim view of his slur against Meira.

STJD Attorney General Paul Schmidt revealed that charges would be presented for the player to answer this Wednesday, to discover the story behind the comment. Neymar maintains that someone hacked into his account and left the message in his name.

"The matter arrived at our desks just yesterday," Schmidt told Redacao SporTV this afternoon in the committee's first comments on the issue.

"(Neymar) denies and says that there was a mistake... I want to believe one of the Brazilian Selecao did not write these idiotic things," the official continued.

Neymar could be charged with offending the honour of a match official, which under the new Brazilian code of sports justice carries a maximum four game ban if found guilty.