Neymar banned for three matches for lashing out at fan

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar was banned for three matches Friday with a further two-match ban suspended for lashing out at a fan following the club's shock defeat in the French Cup final.

Announcing the ban, the French football federation said the sanction would go into effect from May 13 allowing the Brazilian superstar to appear for the French champions against Angers in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

But he will miss the last two games of the domestic season and the French Champions Trophy pitting PSG against their cup final conquerors winners Rennes in Shenzhen, China in August.

Neymar swung at an abusive opposing fan while climbing the steps to receive his French Cup final losers medal following the shock defeat to Rennes on penalties last month.

On a nightmare night for PSG, Rennes came back from 2-0 down to 2-2 at the end of regulation time, forcing extra time and penalties.

Meanwhile, Neymar has appealed against another ban, this time a three-match Champions League ban imposed by European football's governing body UEFA .

He was punished for an angry outburst at match officials of PSG's last-16 tie against Manchester United in March.

PSG lost following a last-minute penalty award to the Premier League side after a VAR review of a disputed handball appeal.

Neymar did not play in the match through injury but took to social media to call the penalty award a "scandal" and accuse the VAR referees of incompetence.