Fourth referee raised the sign with Neymar’s number 10 instead of Escobar’s 31, as was on the sheet handed out by the Santos technical committee
The allegation of an “error of law” in the replacement of Robinho by Neymar, instead of Escobar’s departure, which led to the result – 3-0 defeat at the Neo Química Arena, in the Brasileirão – was not accepted by the STJD. In a session of the 5th Disciplinary Commission this Friday (22), the court alleged an “error of fact” and, unanimously, rejected Santos’ request by ensuring that the error “did not affect the score”.
The defeat in the courts was already predicted, due to the fact that the fourth referee’s error when raising the substitution sign, with Neymar’s number 10 instead of Escobar’s 31, as was on the sheet handed out by the Santos technical committee, did not interfere with the result. At that moment, with much of the second stage underway, Santos was already losing 3-0.
“The summary has a presumption of veracity and needs contrary evidence for this presumption to be relativized. I understand that this is not the case in question. Even if we compared the version of the summary with that of Santos, it is not possible to conclude that the arbitration decided to replace Neymar. But, rather, that it believed that the club asked for the substitution or was misled, intentionally or not”, explained Marcelo Belizze, auditor of the trial.
The summary was decisive for the verdict. In it, referee Paulo Cesar Zanovelli states that fourth referee Bruno Mota Correia heard from César Sampaio that the substitution would be precisely the attacker’s departure. Neymar was on the edge of the field receiving treatment on his calf – he will stop for at least 10 days for treatment. The player himself admitted that he asked to leave because of the problem.
Still according to Belizze, Robinho Jr. could not have entered the field until he had defined who would actually leave. As soon as the substitute steps onto the pitch, the change is official and nothing can be changed. Not even the widespread complaints from Santos fans made Zanovelli change his decision on the day of the game.
Neymar showed the broadcast cameras that the ballot given to the fourth referee included Escobar’s name as the player to be replaced. The STJD auditor reinforced that “it is not a document provided for in regulation”, explaining that it is only a means of communication between clubs and referees.
