Barcelona complain over pundits Neymar comments

Barcelona have filed a complaint against two Spanish football pundits, saying their inciting violence against Neymar.

The incident relates to Manolo Sanchis and 'Poli' Rincon who both justified a foul by Real Madrid midfielder Isco on Barcelona's Brazilian forward, which saw the Spaniard dismissed.

Isco deliberately kicked Neymar during Barcelona's 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday 21 November.

Isco was sent off for his kick on Neymar. Credit: PA

Both Sanchis and Rincon are former Real Madrid players who now work for La Cadena COPE.

Barcelona want the Anti-violence commission to act on the matter, saying their comments could encourage other players to act violently against Neymar.

Manolo Sanchis is a former Real Madrid captain.Credit: PA

The Legal Services of FC Barcelona have filed a request this morning with the Anti-violence Commission, an organization affiliated with the Sports Council, the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), to open proceedings against former football players and current football commentators, ‘Manolo’ Sanchís and ‘Poli’ Rincón, for having publicly and repeatedly justified the act of aggression that the Real Madrid player Isco committed against the FC Barcelona player Neymar in the last match played between the two teams, on Saturday, 21 November at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, an aggression which resulted in a straight red card for the Real Madrid player.

On the day of the game, speaking into the microphones of the Spanish radio network, La Cadena COPE, both Sanchís and Rincón justified Isco’s aggression on Neymar and, this past Sunday, they repeated said justifications, although Paco González, the host of the COPE program, called Tiempo de Juego, gave them several opportunities to rectify their statements. But rather than make a retraction or apologise, Sanchís doubled down on his words from the day of the match, when he said that "Neymar is going over the line, he isn’t getting [hit] enough." Rincón did the same, assuring that "If I am there, I hit him, there should be no doubt that I hit him; me and anyone else.”

FC Barcelona considers these statements to be an invitation to violence and therefore asks the Anti-violence Commission to act.

Barcelona Statement