Neymar reportedly slapped and tripped his 18-year-old team-mate Robinho Jr during a training ground bust-up at Santos, after the Brazilian legend believed he had been disrespected.
According to a report by Brazilian outlet Globo, the 34-year-old took exception to being dribbled past by his teenage teammate, who is the son of former Real Madrid and Manchester City attacker Robinho.
An argument ensued after Neymar had told him to ‘take it easy’, leading to the pair pushing each other.
It is claimed the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star then slapped and tripped Robinho Jr, leading to both of them being removed from the session.
The pair had been training with the reserves after being left out of Santos’s squad for their match against Palmeiras, ahead of their Copa Sudamericana match against Paraguayan side Recoleta.
Robinho Jr’s representatives are said to have complained about the incident to Santos’s club president.
Neymar, right, was reportedly involved in a training ground bust-up with Robinho Jr, centre
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-German star was said to have slapped and tripped Robinho Jr, before later apologising to the teenager after admitting he had been at fault
The issue was resolved after Neymar apologised to Robinho Jr having recognised he had been at fault for the incident.
They are said to have a close relationship, which has been likened to a ‘godfather and godson’.
Santos were held to a 1-1 draw in their derby with Palmeiras on Saturday.
Concerns over Palmeiras’s synthetic pitch was cited as a reason for Neymar being left out of the match, with the forward having been vocal about the surface following a series of injury problems in recent years.
The most notable was the ACL injury he sustained in October 2023 when playing for Brazil against Uruguay, which was his last appearance for the Selecao.
Despite being Brazil’s all-time top scorer, with 79 goals, Neymar faces an uphill battle to get back into the national team ahead of the World Cup this summer.
The forward has scored four goals in 11 matches so far this season, but has just four more games to try to convince manager Carlo Ancelotti to include him in his squad.
While Neymar’s career is heading towards a close at Santos, Robinho Jr is seeking to establish himself in the first team.
Neymar and Robinho Jr are said to have a close relationship, which has been likened to a ‘godfather and godson’
Robinho Jr is the son of the disgraced former Manchester City and Real Madrid star Robinho, who is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence in Brazil for rape
The teenager has made 23 appearances for the Brazilian side to date.
His father Robinho, who played 100 times for the national team, is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for rape.
He was arrested in 2024, after lengthy legal battles, having initially being found guilty of gang rape and sentenced in Italy in 2017.
He was one of six men who were found guilty of assaulting an Albanian woman in an Italian nightclub in January 2013.
Robinho was imprisoned in Brazil after a court in his homeland decided he should serve the jail sentence handed down to him by an Italian court.
He has continued to protest his innocence and claims the victim had engaged in a consensual orgy after getting drunk on vodka.
