Bragantino defender makes sexist remark, apologises to referee | OneFootball

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

The episode, however, was overshadowed by the interview with the defender, who scored Bragantino’s only goal. He stated: “It’s no use for us to play against São Paulo, Palmeiras, and Corinthians, and then they put a woman to referee a match of this magnitude.” Gustavo also said that the referee “was not honest” and concluded that “the Paulista Federation should not put a woman in matches of this size,” adding that she “does not have the capacity to referee a match like this.” These 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 player’s sexist remarks.” The club acknowledged the mistake, said that “nothing justifies what was said, whether in football or in 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 that an athlete questions 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 informed that it would forward the statements to the sports court for appropriate action.

Next, Bragantino’s press office announced that Gustavo would make another statement. In a new interview, he said he wanted “to apologize to all the women of Brazil and the world.” He admitted 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.” Asked if he changed his assessment of the refereeing, he replied that he did not, but added: “We have to respect whoever is refereeing our matches, whether man or woman. Like them, we are also working.”

Curiously, both sides complained about incidents in which they demanded 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 won’t accept what I said. But she saw that I was nervous, sad, and bitter, and she 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.