Oftentimes, when a player is severely injured on the field, networks will go out of their way not to show the gruesome result for the sake of the player and fans.
As for Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, when it came to discussing star forward Neymar’s ACL injury, they didn’t spare anyone from the moment.
After the Brazilian superstar suffered a non-contact injury in a World Cup qualifying loss against Uruguay, everyone’s worst fears were confirmed and it was announced that he had suffered a torn ACL and meniscus.
“Striker Neymar Jr. of the Brazilian team and Al-Hilal, from Saudi Arabia, underwent clinical and imaging tests this Wednesday, which confirmed the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee,” Brazil’s Football Confederation said in a statement. “The striker will undergo a surgical procedure, on a date yet to be defined, to correct the injuries. The Brazilian National Team’s medical department, under the supervision of Dr. Rodrigo Lasmar, and Al Hilal, are in permanent contact and aligned in the player’s recovery.”
The 31-year-old has recently signed a lucrative deal with Al-Hilal, so they have to be pretty disappointed knowing that he won’t be on the pitch for a while. They sent out a social media post on Wednesday to wish Neymar a speedy recovery, but they were perhaps a bit too speedy with their photo choices in the post.
The main photo choice is the moment in which Neymar recognized he had suffered a brutal injury and called out to his side for medical help. In the background is a close-up of the soccer star grasping his head as he lay on the ground.
Not the most delicate photo selection of all time, to say the least. And plenty of people around the sports world were appalled by the choice.
this is the craziest injured player announcement graphic i've ever seen https://t.co/4B3sHM20cz
— Andrew Vazzano (@AVRBNY) October 18, 2023
This is an insane graphic lol https://t.co/01u8bYogO0
— Jack McGuire (@JackMacCFB) October 18, 2023
possibly the most unhinged graphic I've ever seen from a team account https://t.co/oYorhHEQZ4
— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) October 18, 2023
If I tear a major ligament in any part of my body, I want branded posts of me in pain on all platforms https://t.co/sXNRzYBvfc
— Jason Anderson (@JasonDCsoccer) October 18, 2023
https://twitter.com/ManagerTactical/status/1714758047824756861
Lost in that photo drama is the fact that they also wrote Neymar’s name in all-caps and quotations, as if to imply that he is some kind of character in a TV show, while also unnecessarily capitalizing words and making other strange grammatical choices.
Just a lot going on with the Al-Hilal social media team right now.
[Al-Hilal]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.