PARIS (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi warned Neymar and his other highly-paid stars on Sunday that they must shape-up or ship-out, claiming “celebrity behaviour’’ at the French champions will not be tolerated.
“The players will have to assume their responsibilities even more than before,” Al-Khelaïfi told France Football in an interview to be published on Tuesday.
“It must be completely different, they will have to do more, work more. They are not here to please themselves and if they do not agree, the doors are open. I do not want to have celebrity behavior anymore.”
“I have realized that changes were essential, otherwise we’re going nowhere.”
Although he wasn’t named, there seems little doubt that Brazilian star Neymar was the chief target of Al-Khelaifi’s blast.
The 27-year-old Neymar was questioned by Brazilian police for five hours on Thursday over allegations he raped a woman he met through social media in a Paris hotel last month – charges he has denied.
Neymar has been plagued by controversy in France.
Injured and forced to watch from the stands as PSG were knocked out of the Champions League by Manchester United in March, Neymar aimed obscene language at the match officials on Instagram.
“It’s a disgrace. They get four guys who don’t understand football to watch a slow motion replay in front of the TV,” he wrote.
Neymar was handed a three-match suspension by UEFA for those insults which rule him out of PSG’s opening fixtures in next season’s European campaign.
Neymar then scored in PSG’s French Cup final defeat by Rennes but hits a supporter as he collects his runners-up medal at the Stade de France.
He is given a further two-game ban while the Brazilian press brand him a “coward’’ and a “rebellious teenager’’.
