Paris Saint-Germain have dismissed the results of a survey which suggest the vast majority of the French population and football fans believe Neymar “provokes defenders” into fouling him.
Neymar has been ruled out for the next 10 weeks with a broken metatarsal after he was the subject of multiple questionable tackles in a French Cup tie against Strasbourg in January.
What did the Neymar survey ask and what were the results? Five key things to know…
- French radio station RTL asked 1,005 French people, including 441 football fans, a series of questions about PSG and Neymar.
- The results claimed 84% of the French population and 78% of football believe Neymar “provokes defenders”.
- PSG have come out in defence of Neymar, questioning the validity of the survey and its results.
- After he was fouled and injured against Strasbourg, Neymar responded by flamboyantly flicking the ball over head of an opponent.
- The Brazilian has been heavily criticised in the past for his theatrics but he is one of the most fouled players in Ligue 1 this term (3.3 per 90 minutes).
During the World Cup, Neymar was condemned when he appeared to exaggerate an injury against Mexico despite seemingly little contact from an opposition player.
But PSG were quick to denounce RTL’s survey results, releasing a lengthy statement criticising the conclusions of the poll.
The statement read: “By even giving … an ounce of credit to these figures [of the survey], should we laugh or cry when reading the results?
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“We say stop to these pseudo-polls which will have no other effect than to force the greatest geniuses of football, our shared passion, out of our championship (Ligue 1).
“We are fighting for much more protective French referees for Neymar – the player who suffers the most mistakes in France – and all athletes who try to make the game thrive.
“And we hope … the Brazilian phenomenon comes back as quickly as possible to illuminate the Parc des Princes and all of France.”
‘Neymar, don’t change a thing!’
Alongside the statement, PSG posted a video on their website titled: ‘Ney, ne change rien!’ – which translates to: ‘Neymar, don’t change a thing!’.
The video is a compilation of some of Neymar’s best skills and tricks in a PSG shirt. The club is clearly encouraging Neymar to continue doing what he has always done for the club.
And why wouldn’t they? Neymar has scored 48 goals in 53 appearances across all competitions since joining PSG from Barcelona in the summer of 2017.
The 26-year-old will miss both legs of PSG’s Champions League round of 16 tie against Manchester United.
The post PSG issue statement in response to Neymar survey appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka News http://bit.ly/2S6HDxh
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