São Paulo v Chapecoense get ref from late derby heartbreak v Palmeiras | OneFootball

São Paulo already knows who will make up the refereeing team for its next Brasileirão match, this Sunday (23), against Chapecoense, away from home, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time).

The man in charge of the whistle for the clash will be Rafael Rodrigo Klein from Santa Catarina, who will be assisted by Rafael da Silva Alves and Michael Stanislau, both from Rio Grande do Sul. The VAR booth will have Rio de Janeiro’s Paulo Renato Moreira da Silva Coelho as the main video referee.

As the CBF usually states, the selection of referees is defined by taking into account the stages of the competition, the importance and degree of complexity of each match, and the referees’ qualifications, fitness, and technical performance.

This season, Rafael Klein has not officiated any Tricolor matches in national competitions. However, in 2025, he was involved in a derby that was quite painful for São Paulo.

In last year’s Brasileirão, Palmeiras hosted São Paulo at Arena Barueri in the 8th round of the competition. The match was tied at 0-0 until the 49th minute of the second half, when Vitor Roque pounced on a rebound and scored for the rival side.

At the time of the goal, the refereeing team even tried to ‘help’ Tricolor and called offside. However, after a check in the VAR booth, the striker’s position was confirmed to be legal and the goal stood, giving Palmeiras a 1-0 win over Tricolor.

In 2026, Rafael Klein from Santa Catarina officiated the Supercopa final, won by Corinthians over Flamengo, and his most recent match was Flamengo’s 5-1 thrashing of Mirassol in the 23rd round of the Brasileirão.

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