Carpini: “Fábio wouldn’t give a corner,” but he was punished too | OneFootball

Juventude’s coach questioned the refereeing criteria in the play that led to Fluminense’s winning goal, but the tricolor goalkeeper was one of the first to concede a corner to the opponent under the new rule in April this year.

A victory with Fluminense’s trademark: late and gritty. Thiago Silva’s goal in the 52nd minute of the second half, which secured the 1–0 win over Juventude this Thursday (16), was preceded by a play that sparked many complaints from the team from Rio Grande do Sul. Coach Thiago Carpini, in his press conference, directed his criticism at the refereeing, insinuating that the same criteria would not be applied to the tricolor goalkeeper, Fábio.

The decisive play of the match happened in stoppage time. Juventude’s goalkeeper, Jandrei, held the ball for more than eight seconds, and the referee correctly applied the rule and awarded a corner to Fluminense. From the kick, “The Monster” Thiago Silva got in front of the defense and hit a fine volley to seal the tricolor victory.

Outraged, Carpini questioned the decision: “I think if he whistles this type of corner play the whole game, every game he’ll have to give a lot of corners. I’m sure that if it were Fábio, he wouldn’t give it (the corner),” said the coach.

However, Carpini’s complaint doesn’t hold up and, ironically, ignores an important fact. Fábio was one of the first goalkeepers in Série A to be penalized under the new rule.

On April 26, in the sixth round of the Brasileirão, in the derby against Botafogo at Nilton Santos, referee Bruno Arleu de Araújo started the count and awarded a corner to the alvinegro team after Fábio held the ball for 12 seconds. In the same round, goalkeeper Fernando Miguel, then at Ceará, was also penalized in a match against São Paulo. At the time, the incidents were widely publicized as the first applications of the new guideline in the top division.

The 8-second rule

Implemented by the CBF for the 2025 Brasileirão, following IFAB guidance (the body that governs the laws of football), the measure aims to curb time-wasting and increase effective playing time. The rule is clear: when the goalkeeper has full control of the ball with his hands, he has a limit of eight seconds to put it back into play.

If that time is exceeded, the punishment is no longer the old and rarely awarded indirect free kick (which existed under the 6-second rule), but rather a corner kick for the opposing team. The referee must signal with his fingers the countdown of the last five seconds.

The first recorded application of the rule in Brazilian football in 2025 occurred in Série B, on April 5, when Athletico-PR’s goalkeeper Mycael exceeded the time against Paysandu.

Therefore, Fluminense’s victory, though dramatic, was based on the correct application of an existing rule—the same one that had already been used against the club itself months earlier. The opposing coach’s complaint, like that of the entire Juventude squad, sounds more like a lament over the defeat than a criticism truly grounded in the rules and in the history of their application throughout the championship.

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