Controversial referee returns for Vasco v São Paulo in Brasileirão | OneFootball

São Paulo faces a tough match in the next round of the Brasileirão, when they take on the in-form Vasco, a direct rival for a spot in the Libertadores, and they might face another major complication on the pitch at São Januário next Sunday (11/2), the referee.

In a public hearing held on the afternoon of this Thursday (11/3) at the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Mr. Wilton Pereira Sampaio, from Goiás, was appointed to officiate the Tricolor's match in Rio de Janeiro for the 31st round of the Brazilian Championship.

As is customarily informed by the CBF, the selection of referees is determined by considering the stages of the competition, the importance and complexity of each match, and the qualification, physical conditioning, and technical performance of the referees.

Wilton has a history of controversies, not only with São Paulo, but with other teams that often rightly complain about the gross errors of the Goiás referee.

SHOW OF ERRORS AGAINST THE TRICOLOR

In Tricolor matches, he has a terrible record. Let's recall a few. The most recent was in September this year, in the 1-0 victory over Botafogo in the Brasileirão, where the referee infuriated the fans by not calling a foul for a nasty stomp on defender Sabino's stomach.

In the 2nd half of the match, right-back Vitinho from the rival Carioca team contested the ball with Sabino and ended up stepping on the São Paulo player (watch below). Referee Wilton Pereira did not call anything, deeming it an accidental play. Not even the VAR booth called for a review, which was a major error in the view of former referee and now commentator PC Oliveira, who stated that the Tricolor was indeed wronged at home against Botafogo.

Previously, he made an error even acknowledged by the CBF, in a classic against Santos in the Brasileirão, where Sampaio did not award a penalty to the Tricolor in a clear incident with Alves being brought down in the area.

“The technical opinion of the International Committee is that there was a penalty in the cited incident. The Santos goalkeeper hits the opponent's leg before touching the ball. From the referee's angle of view, and considering that in the end, the goalkeeper maintains possession of the ball, it is very difficult to have the necessary certainty to award the maximum penalty. The foul is only clear from the angle of the camera behind the goal,” said the CBF committee.

The report also points out the need for a yellow card penalty for the Santos goalkeeper for the committed penalty.

“Disciplinarily, the incident warrants a yellow card because, despite preventing a clear goal opportunity, the foul was committed in the context of a ball dispute and, therefore, the sanction is reduced from a red card to a yellow card,” evaluated the Commission.

Watch the unawarded penalty incident on Alves:

In the 2024 Brasileirão, the Goiás referee was involved in Tricolor matches with controversies, against Palmeiras, Juventude, Vitória, and Cruzeiro. Despite the complaints, the team did not lose any of these matches, with draws against the first two, and victories over the teams from Bahia and Minas Gerais.

In all four participations, however, there were controversial incidents complained about by São Paulo. In the classic, he was criticized for the excessive fouls called in the Choque-Rei. Against Juventude, the criticism came from the number 10, Luciano himself.

“Wilton (Pereira Sampaio) is like that, every time he referees one of my games, he gives me a yellow card,” said the forward after the goalless draw with the team from Rio Grande do Sul. According to Luciano, he was talking to Zubeldía, and the referee gave him a yellow for complaining.

Against Vitória, at Morumbi, more controversies arose. This time the Tricolor fans were furious with the offside call on Calleri's goal, which was considered doubtful. And also for a penalty awarded to the team from Bahia.

To conclude the series, Wilton Pereira did not award a penalty after the ball touched Cruzeiro's Marlon's hand inside the area. He spent more than three minutes talking to the VAR team but decided not to call the infraction.

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