Arleu returns: São Paulo v Inter gets controversial referee again | OneFootball

Even with only two more rounds remaining for the end of the Brasileirão, refereeing continues to be the center of attention before the matches, as it will be in São Paulo vs. Internacional, this coming Wednesday (3), at 8 PM (Brasília time).

The CBF announced in a public hearing held at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) that the Carioca Bruno Arleu de Araújo will referee the Tricolor's match this midweek, which will take place at Vila Belmiro, in Santos.

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

THE CONTROVERSIES

Arleu has already caused immense outrage among Tricolor's directors for his performance in the classic against Corinthians, in the 2023 Brasileirão. On that occasion, São Paulo complained about a penalty awarded in favor of Corinthians, in an incident involving the full-back Rafinha, and the annulment of a goal scored by Jonathan Calleri in which the referee saw a foul by the Argentine.

The unfavorable incidents for São Paulo generated huge protests from the club, including insults reported in the match report by the director and president of São Paulo. The CBF did nothing, as usual, and considered Bruno Arleu's decisions in the Majestic correct.

Already in this 2025 season, Bruno Arleu de Araújo was even suspended for a time by the CBF, after an error favoring Palmeiras. In the game for the 2nd round of the Brasileirão, between Sport vs. Palmeiras, the referee saw a touch by Matheus Alexandre in a ball dispute with Rafael Veiga and awarded a penalty, converted by Piquerez, in a 2-1 victory for Palmeiras.

“Unfortunately, there are moments to instruct, restrain, and also to suspend. At this moment, the Refereeing Commission suspends for instruction the teams of the matches where, in the CCEI's view, there were mistakes,” said at the time Rodrigo Cintra, general coordinator of the CBF's refereeing commission.

“The suspension is not simply an empty punishment, it is so that we can take care of the referees, instruct them, and subsequently, there will be no more mistakes in this regard, putting the VAR and the field referee in sync,” concluded Cintra.

We hope the instructions have worked. To assist Arleu, the assistants Rodrigo Figueiredo Henrique Corrêa (RJ) and Felipe Alan Costa de Oliveira (MG) will be on the sidelines, with André Luiz Skettino Policarpo Bento (MG) as the fourth referee. The VAR booth will be commanded by the Goiano Caio Max Vieira.

In this Brasileirão, Bruno Arleu has been in charge of three Tricolor matches, all as the home team. The 2-0 victory over Vitória, as well as the 1-0 defeats to Ceará and Bragantino, the latter match held at Vila Belmiro.

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