Error-prone ref picked for São Paulo v Botafogo in Brasileirão | OneFootball

São Paulo learned this Thursday (21) who will referee its next Brazilian Championship match against Botafogo this Saturday (23), at 5 p.m. (Brasília time), at Morumbi.

The official in charge of the match against the Rio side will be Lucas Casagrande from Paraná, who was even suspended by the CBF for a major mistake at the end of 2025 and has already been involved in several controversies throughout his career, despite still being only 25 years old. The announcement was made by the Brazilian Confederation during a public hearing at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) on Thursday afternoon.

As the CBF عادة informs, the selection of referees is defined by taking into account the stages of the competition, the importance and degree of complexity of each match, and the referees’ qualifications, physical condition, and technical performance.

This season, Casagrande has already officiated two matches involving Tricolor, both in the Brasileirão, without any major damage. He was the referee in the 2-0 win over Chapecoense and in the 1-1 draw with Internacional.

Casagrande drew negative attention in the match between Grêmio and Bragantino in the 2025 Brasileirão. The Rio Grande do Sul side strongly complained about the sending-off of defender Kannemann still in the first half and the penalty that decided the São Paulo side’s 1-0 victory in the match.

After the mistakes, the CBF Refereeing Commission decided to send for the famous retraining the referees and VAR operators who worked the match valid for the 27th round of the Brazilian Championship.

OTHER CONTROVERSIES

Before that, still last year, Lucas Casagrande was at the center of controversy in the match between América-RN and Treze, in Série D. The 1-1 draw sparked outrage in the Rio Grande do Norte team, which blasted the referee’s performance.

“I want to express my repudiation of the refereeing and ask Wilson Seneme, president of the CBF refereeing commission, to pay attention to all divisions of the Brazilian Championship,” criticized América-RN football executive Marcelo Sant’Ana. He also called Casagrande’s performance “disastrous,” highlighting mistakes in important plays, such as the penalty missed by Souza.

Later, already at the end of the 2025 season, the referee was the target of criticism in the first Taça FPF final, won by Azuriz over Cianorte 1-0. The losing side complained about two penalties not awarded in their favor and the opponent’s goal, after an alleged handball.

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