Nene was left out of Paris Saint-Germain's squad for their Europa League match with Differdange partly as punishment for a row with Antoine Kombouare, the PSG coach said on Wednesday.
The Brazilian forward reportedly clashed with Kombouare after being left on the bench for the duration of PSG's 1-1 draw at Rennes on Saturday.
He was officially omitted from the trip to Luxembourg due to an ankle injury but Kombouare said he wanted to send a message to the player as well.
"Nene is not in the squad. To protect him regarding his painful ankle and also to punish him," Kombouare told a press conference on Wednesday.
According to French sport daily L'Equipe, Nene and Kombouare had an angry exchange in the changing room following the match at Rennes.
L'Equipe said that Nene subsequently apologised to his team-mates.
"It'll give him time to have a good work-out at Camp des Loges (PSG's training ground)," Kombouare added.
PSG meet Differdange in the away leg of their Europa League qualifying tie on Thursday.
Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore, a French-record 42 million-euro ($60.6m) close-season signing from Palermo, has been included in the PSG squad despite concerns about his lack of match fitness.
"It's time that we let him play," said Kombouare. "Will he start? I still need to talk to him.
"If I've named him in the squad, it's because I'm thinking about playing him. Of course he's not ready, but he needs to play matches. He lacks playing time."
Source: AFP
