Scottish FA Demands Apology From Neymar And Brazil After Racism Allegations Prove Unfounded

Although the unfortunate banana-throwing incident in the international friendly between Scotland and Brazil looked like it was about to blow over, the Scottish FA has reignited the minor row by demanding an apology from either Neymar or the Brazilian FA for the young forward’s comments after the match. Neymar was understandably incensed after a banana - commonly used in European matches as a form of racial abuse - was tossed onto the field shortly after he scored his second goal of the game, and mentioned the incident in the post-match interview, calling the ‘atmosphere of racism’ sad.

As it turns out, the banana had nothing to do with the Scottish fans, and in turn the Scottish FA feels that their supporters were unfairly smeared by the racism allegations. In a statement today chief executive Stewart Regan said he had written to his Brazilian counterpart demanding an apology:

Scotland’s supporters were genuinely upset and annoyed that the unfounded allegations levelled against them threatened to sully their reputation as fair, good humoured and respectful spectators.

As the matter has been resolved, and Scotland supporters cleared of any involvement, we felt it was only right that we acted on behalf of our supporters to request an apology either from the player involved, or the Brazilian FA.

Obviously (and understandably), the Scottish didn’t particularly like being called racists, but they probably would have been better served by letting bygones be bygones rather than going after Neymar once it was shown that there was not actually any racism involved. After all, Neymar did have a banana thrown at him - it’s difficult to blame him for assuming that there was a hint of racial abuse behind the gesture.