Neymar to miss next four Santos fixtures
By Christopher Atkins 2012-10-02 08:53:00
Action Images
Santos fail in an attempt to rearrange upcoming Brasileirão fixtures to enable the star to play.
Santos will be without star forward Neymar for their next four Brasileirão fixtures following the player's dismissal in this weekend's league encounter with Grêmio.
Neymar, 20, will thus serve an automatic one-match suspension this Saturday against Internacional, but will then miss fixtures with Vasco, Atlético-MG and Botafogo due to national team duty.
The club, who have been able to play their star player in just 10 of 27 league matches thus far in 2012, lodged an appeal to the CBF for two of the fixtures to be rearranged, but their pleas have fallen upon deaf ears.
"We received the CBF's notification late on Monday afternoon," Santos vice-president Odílio Rodriguez told reporters.
"They refused the request to postpone the games with Vasco and Atlético-MG. We did what we could, but now we must accept the decision and play with out our main player."
Of the 17 matches Neymar has missed, 13 have been through international commitments, leading manager Muricy Ramalho to recently appeal for the star to be omitted from the squads for the forthcoming friendly encounters with Argentina, Iraq and Japan.
Latest news
