Brazil coach Tite has said suggestions that he played against Gabriel Jesus in Friday’s loss to Cameroon, knowing he was already carrying an injury, are “evil lies”.
Arsenal striker Jesus, 25, has since been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a knee injury.
Speaking ahead of Monday’s round of 16 match against South Korea, Tite said: “I don’t like to hear lies there, evil lies.
“At no time do we play for victory at the risk of a player’s peril.”
It remains to be decided whether Jesus and full-back Alex Telles – who has also been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a knee injury – will stay in Qatar or return to their respective clubs for treatment.
Tite continued: “The liar that’s out there – because that’s the name isn’t it, the haters, isn’t it?
“Go do something else and stop spreading fake news. We are responsible, we are personally responsible, we are ethical and this would never have happened.
“I didn’t want this to happen, it’s a shame, we’re so sorry for Gabriel.”
