Bragantino defender makes sexist remark, apologises to referee | OneFootball

The elimination of Bragantino by São Paulo took on dimensions that went beyond the field, due to Gustavo Marques’ statements as he left the pitch. Before that, the match report had already recorded an episode of direct confrontation between the home team’s players and the refereeing team: after referee Daiane Muniz blew the final whistle, Juninho Capixaba approached her and said: “You robbed us! Go celebrate with them! You are crooks!” This earned him an immediate red card.

The episode, however, was overshadowed by the interview given by the defender, who scored Bragantino’s only goal. He stated: “There’s no point in us playing against São Paulo, Palmeiras, and Corinthians, and they put a woman to referee a game of this magnitude.” Gustavo also said that the referee “was not honest” and concluded that “the Paulista Federation should not put a woman in games of this size,” adding that she “does not have the capacity to referee a game like this.” The statements quickly circulated on social media and provoked an immediate reaction.

Bragantino published an official statement saying that it “does not condone and repudiates the athlete’s sexist remarks.” The club acknowledged the mistake, said that “nothing justifies what was said, whether in football or any area of society,” and announced that it would consider an internal punishment in the coming days. Shortly after, the Paulista Football Federation released a statement of repudiation, classifying the remarks as “primitive, sexist, prejudiced, and misogynistic” and incompatible with the values of the sport. The entity stated that it is “absolutely appalling for an athlete to question a referee’s ability based on their gender,” expressed support for Daiane “and all women who work or wish to work in any area of football,” and reported that it would forward the statements to the sports justice authorities for appropriate action.

Next, Bragantino’s press office announced that Gustavo would make another statement. In a new interview, he said he wanted “to ask forgiveness from all the women of Brazil and the world.” He stated that he “said things he shouldn’t have at that moment” and declared that he felt “bad” and “sad” about the repercussions. “My wife has already scolded me, my mother has already scolded me,” he revealed. “I’m being a man, I’m being a human being, and every human being makes mistakes.” When asked if he changed his assessment of the refereeing, he replied that he did not, but added: “We have to respect whoever referees our games, whether it’s a man or a woman. Like them, we are also working.”

Curiously, both sides complained about incidents in which they called for penalties, with the one against Bragantino (a push on Lucas Ramon, in the first half) being the most explicit. In his press conference, coach Wágner Mancini only mentioned the added time in the second half: “The referee gave less time than she should have. Eight minutes was too little, considering how much São Paulo stopped the game.”

The defender also said that he spoke with Daiane after the match. Still at the stadium, Gustavo went with sporting director Diego Cerri to the referees’ dressing room to apologize on behalf of the institution. According to him, the referee accepted the apology: “She accepted my apology and just told me to be careful, because there are women who will not accept what I said. But she saw that I was nervous, sad, and bitter and forgave me. She just told me to be more careful with my words.”

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