3 min readMay 18, 2026 09:48 AM IST
In one of the most bizarre incidents in football, Brazilian football star Neymar was left livid after being accidentally substituted by an error from the fourth official. The game was Neymar’s last chance to impress Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti before the Brazilian FIFA World Cup squad is announced.
Instead, Neymar was at the centre of an ugly scene where the game was held up for many minutes as Santos players and coach Cuca tried to plead with the referee to overturn the error of his colleague.
The incident happened in the 65th minute of Santos’ Brazilian league clash with Coritiba, when Neymar’s relegation-threatened side were already 3-0 down. Neymar was on the field having his right calf sprayed by a doctor. The referee told him to go to the sidelines, where the treatment continued. But before Neymar was ready to come back on, the fourth official raised a substitution board which indicated that Neymar would be making way for Robinho Jr., who immediately stepped onto the pitch.
“I knew Robinho was coming in, but I wasn’t even watching it,” an angry Neymar said after the game. “I didn’t know I had been substituted, I had not seen the board. It was a very serious mistake by the officials, by the fellow who puts the numbers on the board.”
Apparently, Santos coach had asked the fourth official to pull out No 31 (Gonzalo Escobar) and the fourth official thought they wanted Neymar (No 10) subbed off.
“It is a mistake (of the fourth official) indeed. But it wasn’t the reason why we lost, it would be unfair to place blame on this,” Santos coach Cuca said in a press conference.
Once Neymar and the other players realised what had happened, they crowded the referee and tried to make him overturn the division. Neymar even snatched the official substitution request sheet from the fourth official and held it up in front of the TV cameras to tell broadcasters at the Neo Quimica Arena in Sao Paulo that Santos had written Escobar’s number on it rather than his.
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But despite vociferous protests from Neymar, the referee refused to budge, eventually showing Neymar a yellow card. The forward was eventually escorted off the field.
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