Referee: "Felt offended" by Sampaoli red and Victor Bagy criticism

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·3 November 2025

Referee: "Felt offended" by Sampaoli red and Victor Bagy criticism

The 0-0 draw between Internacional and Atlético, last Sunday (02), at Beira-Rio, continues to generate repercussions. After the public criticism from the Minas Gerais club regarding the refereeing, it was the turn of referee Alex Gomes Stefano (RJ) to officially express himself through the match report. The document details expulsions and complaints from Atlético members during and after the match valid for the Brazilian Championship.

Just 17 minutes into the first half, defender Vitor Hugo was sent off after a VAR review. On the field, the referee had not even called a foul, but reversed his decision after the video analysis led by Carlos Eduardo Nunes Braga (RJ). In the report, Alex justified the defender's expulsion for using excessive force:

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Making a tackle against an opponent using excessive force in the contest for the ball – For hitting the leg, at knee height, of his opponent number 19, Mr. Rafael Santos Borré Maury, with the sole of his foot, using excessive force in the contest for the ball. The affected player required medical attention and continued normally in the match.

Still in the first half, coach Jorge Sampaoli was also expelled, at 35 minutes. The referee reported that the Argentine coach repeatedly protested and verbally offended him, even leaving the technical area: “I expelled Mr. Jorge Luis Sampaoli, coach of the visiting team, with a direct red card for repeatedly protesting the referee's decisions, uttering the following words harshly: ‘this is a disgrace! go and head the ball for them!’, and also for leaving his technical area. It is worth noting that I felt offended by these words”.

In addition to Sampaoli, the referee reported two episodes of offenses involving Atlético's football director, Victor Bagy. According to Alex Gomes Stefano, the director approached him aggressively at halftime and after the end of the match, both in the stadium's mixed zone:

I inform that at halftime, when I was heading to the referees' dressing room, Mr. Victor Bagy, director of the visiting team, approached me in the mixed zone and aggressively said: ‘you need to be escorted, this is a disgrace! Then you don't want me to complain!’. I also inform that the same person, at the end of the match, approached me again in the mixed zone, saying: ‘congratulations to the VAR, it refereed the game, it saved you!’. It is worth noting that I felt offended in both situations.

The match was marked by three VAR reviews — all reversing on-field decisions. Besides the expulsion of Vitor Hugo, the referee annulled a penalty awarded to Atlético, in an incident between Rony and Bernabei, and reversed the expulsion of Alan Patrick, from Internacional, turning it into a yellow card.

This was the seventh match of Atlético refereed by Alex Gomes Stefano in this Brazilian Championship. In at least four of them, the Minas Gerais club complained about controversial incidents in the referee's decisions.

With the draw, Atlético reached 37 points and occupies the 13th position, while Internacional, with 36, is in 15th. Galo returns to the field next Wednesday (5), when they face Bahia, at 8 PM, at Arena MRV.

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