Soccer:The Scottish Football Association have strongly denied Brazil star Neymar's claims he was racially abused by the Tartan Army at the Emirates Stadium.

A banana was thrown onto the field during Brazil's 2-0 victory over the Scots in their challenge match as the 19-year-old was preparing to take his successful 77th-minute penalty in this afternoon's match, his second goal of the game.

Speaking afterwards, Neymar accused some spectators of racially abusing him, a claim also made by team-mate Lucas Leiva, who reportedly retrieved the banana.

"I feel great and scored two but what happened with the banana is sad. I don't want to make a big deal of it."

However, an SFA spokesperson said: "There has been no such incident reported to the police or the stadium safety officer. In fact, the tens of thousands of Scotland supporters who travelled to the Emirates were commended for their behaviour.

"The Scotland supporters are known the world over for their impeccable behaviour and we have no reason to believe that, after speaking to the relevant authorities, they have been anything other than exemplary. The Scotland fans helped create a wonderful spectacle inside the Emirates and throughout London and should be applauded for their support."

Santos forward Neymar, who has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea, said earlier on Brazilian television channel Sportv: "They were jeering me a lot, even when I was about to kick the penalty.

"The entire stadium was jeering. This atmosphere of racism is totally sad. We leave our country to play here and something like this happens. It's sad. I'd rather not even talk about it, to keep the subject from escalating."

Liverpool midfielder Lucas said: "There is no more space for racism in the world. They say it's the first world here in Europe, but it's where it happens the most. That has to change.

"Everybody is equal today. It's a matter of respect."

Hamish Husband, Tartan Army spokesman, also dismissed suggestions of racism.

He said: "The reason Neymar was booed was because we believed he was feigning injury. Racism has no place in the Tartan Army, and if it did, it would be stamped out immediately, because we are self-policing.

"Any suggestion of racism from the Tartan Army today, as far as I am concerned, is absolute rubbish. We accept that Brazil played us off the park, and we applauded them for that."