Barros hits back at São Paulo director over refereeing row | OneFootball

Palmeiras and São Paulo will face each other next Saturday (21), at 9:00 PM (Brasília time), at Morumbi Stadium for the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship. Verdão is leading the competition with 16 points.

São Paulo Director Comments on Refereeing

In an interview this Thursday (19) with ESPN channels, São Paulo’s director, Rui Costa, spoke about recent refereeing decisions in derbies involving the two teams.

– São Paulo vs Palmeiras is always a very important match. Specifically this weekend, it’s a game that allows us to keep fighting for points, and in that I agree with Palmeiras’ coach. Being the leader now is important, but what really matters is being the leader in the 38th round. Our opponent won the last match due to blatant refereeing errors. The fact is, they won. And we, unfortunately, have had in these clashes, in different competitions, errors that not rarely favor the opponent – he said.

– What we cannot have is a blatant error like an outstretched hand, a stomp that almost breaks a colleague’s leg, and that goes unnoticed. If the refereeing goes unnoticed, then we’ll have a great derby. The most competent team will win. What we cannot allow is to lose these games due to refereeing interference – he emphasized.

– We are going to face an extremely competent team, a very well-assembled side, with a highly capable coach. And I said this the last time we faced them. That’s why the refereeing has to allow the game to be decided on the field. That hasn’t been happening. We hope the refereeing team applies the rules – he concluded.

Palmeiras Director Responds

In a video published by Palmeiras, director Anderson Barros countered Rui Costa’s statements and classified them as “extremely opportunistic.”

Watch the video published by Palmeiras

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.