Filipe Luís, Léo Ortiz and Saúl slam Flamengo referee: “Knew it’d be tough” | OneFootball

Refereeing was a topic after the Flamengo vs Cruzeiro match

When Ramon Abatti Abel's name appeared on the list to referee the game between Flamengo and Cruzeiro, Filipe Luís already anticipated complications, which were confirmed. With different criteria and many fouls, the referee disrupted the flow of the match. After the 0-0 draw on Thursday (02), the coach, Léo Ortiz and Saúl complained.

— Well, whenever I, as a coach, have sat in this chair, I chose not to talk about the referees… but it's difficult. It's difficult, honestly. Because you have feelings on the sidelines, you're watching the referee whistle. When his name came up, we already knew it would be complicated. The profile of the referee who whistles Flamengo's game, when the list comes out, you already know it's going to be complicated. So, what can I say? The game starts, the decisions are not the same. As you yourselves said, the criteria are not the same. Cards first and then no card, then he gives a card for a play he didn't before. I don't know — said Filipe Luís.

— I don't know if he was nervous, if he was afraid to whistle, but these things are transmitted to the players, making the game slow, making it boring, bad for the spectator. And our reference, as you said, to improve, is the Premier League. We have to copy the referees from the Premier League always, the way they do it. We have good referees in Brazil, the way they whistle there, is to try to copy as much as possible from the best. That's it. I do that as a coach, I copy from the best. It's the only way to improve. But you know well how much a referee who whistles the game harms us — added the coach.

WHAT DID THE PLAYERS SAY?

In the mixed zone of Maracanã, Léo Ortiz and Saúl reinforced Filipe Luís's speech. The defender tried not to dwell too much on the subject to avoid reprisals, but called for more consistent refereeing for the continuation of the Brasileirão 2025.

— It's very annoying to talk about refereeing, I even apologize. The change of criteria from one referee to another is bothersome. This is the most harmful. Cruzeiro was also bothered. When both teams are bothered, it's complicated. It's not good for us to expose ourselves with this. At some point, we'll play with this same referee. We need to think of a unique way for referees to whistle, to have a standard — started Léo Ortiz.

— The refereeing breaks the rhythm a bit. Cruzeiro's strategy was to break our rhythm this way. And the referee stopped a lot, and we were always looking for the game. Above all, the group has to overcome this, compete. But we get anxious, want to fight — concluded the defender.

HAVE YOU GOT USED TO IT, SAÚL?

Adapted to the European refereeing model, Saúl still struggles to get used to Brazilian refereeing. The Spaniard revealed that he spoke with Abatti Abel to make the match more dynamic, but was unsuccessful in his request.

— We told him that the most important thing for the game was to give it fluidity. But he gave many unnecessary yellows, stopped the game a lot. Let them play! They weren't hard fouls, but tactical ones. But anyway, that's an external thing, we focus on ourselves. We've played three home games and couldn't win, only draw. Now we have to think about Sunday to get the three points — lamented Saúl.

WHEN IS FLAMENGO'S NEXT GAME?

In anticipation of better refereeing, Flamengo faces Bahia this Sunday (05) in Salvador, for the 27th round of the Brasileirão. The match kicks off at 6:30 PM (Brasília time) at Arena Fonte Nova, with full coverage by Coluna do Fla.

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