No action! STJD lets Rafinha off, São Paulo chief escapes ban | OneFootball

São Paulo’s football executive, Rafinha, escaped punishment from the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD), which tried him on Thursday afternoon (13) for insults directed at referee André Luiz Policarpo Bento after the team’s 2-1 loss to Grêmio in the Brazilian Championship.

The court initially decided to impose a 15-day suspension on the São Paulo official, but voted to convert the sanction into only a formal warning. As a result, Rafinha will not have to serve a suspension and is cleared to accompany the club’s delegation for the match against Coritiba, scheduled for this Saturday (15) at 9 p.m. Brasília time, at Morumbi Stadium.

Context of the complaint

The complaint was based on the official match report from the game against Grêmio. In the document, referee André Luiz Policarpo Bento said he was approached by the São Paulo executive in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms. On that occasion, the official strongly protested the refereeing decisions, ending the confrontation with offensive language.

Despite finding a disciplinary violation, the STJD judges chose to reduce the penalty and apply only the educational measure of a warning.

“Damn, André. You had a great game, you should have gone to VAR to review Luciano’s play. F*** you, f***... It’s me saying it, this f***ing VAR,” Rafinha said, according to the referee’s report. Watch the video below.

Rafinha was charged under Article 258 of the Brazilian Code of Sports Justice (CBJD), which provides punishment for anyone who “engages in any conduct contrary to discipline or sports ethics not covered by the other rules of this Code.” The penalty can range from 15 to 180 days of suspension.

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