Brazilian football star Neymar on Tuesday used an ethnic slur to insult a social media user which was praising his former teammate Kylian Mbappe.
The post on Instagram was singing the praise of the Mbappe, and Neymar chose to use his official account to comment on the post. The original post read: "Mbappe is once again showing he is a good guy, the victim of a poorly told story.
"Mbappe has a competitive spirit. People confuse a guy who wants to win everything with a bad person."
Neymar’s response to the post was translated as “Gringo ball sucker” in reference to the user who was writing glowingly about Mbappe.
A Brazilian football page praised Kylian Mbappé on Instagram, stating “Mbappé is once again showing he is a good guy, the victim of a poorly told story…people confuse a guy who wants to win everything with a bad person.”
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) April 16, 2024
Neymar’s response to the page: “Gringo ball sucker.” pic.twitter.com/nZsm5LzZWx
In poor taste
Though Neymar wasn’t directly insulting Mbappe, his comment was undeniably in poor taste and smacked of bitterness.
The pair were teammates at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for six years from 2017 to 2023. Though he made 112 appearances and scoring 82 goals for PSG in that time, he also missed 119 matches during that period through 20 different injuries.
His chronic battle with injury led to his legacy of winning 10 trophies with PSG, being tainted and ended with Neymar signing for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal in August last year.
Neymar’s R1.8 billion transfer made his purchase the most expensive in the Saudi Pro League history. He is also believed to be earning around R3 billion per year at the club.
Currently, the 32-year-old Neymar is out action with an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) he picked up playing for Brazil in October last year.
Mbappe, meanwhile, starred for PSG on Tuesday night in the Uefa Champions League with a brace which helped his side to a 6-4 aggregate win over Barcelona to book their spot in the semi-finals of the competition.