Arleu returns: São Paulo v Inter with ref who’s wronged Tricolor | OneFootball

Even with only two rounds left before the end of the Brasileirão, refereeing remains at the center of attention before the matches, as will be the case for São Paulo vs Internacional, this coming Wednesday (3), at 8:00 PM (Brasília time).

The CBF announced in a public hearing held at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) that the Rio de Janeiro native Bruno Arleu de Araújo will referee the Tricolor’s match this midweek, which will take place at Vila Belmiro, in Santos.

As is customarily stated by the CBF, the selection of referees is determined by considering the stages of the competition, the importance and degree of complexity of each match, as well as the qualification, physical conditioning, and technical performance of the referees.

THE CONTROVERSIES

Arleu has already caused immense outrage among Tricolor’s directors for his performance in the derby against Corinthians, in the 2023 Brasileirão. On that occasion, São Paulo complained about a penalty awarded in favor of Corinthians, in a play involving full-back Rafinha, and the disallowing of a goal scored by Jonathan Calleri, in which the referee saw a foul by the Argentine.

The unfavorable decisions against São Paulo generated huge protests from the club, including insults reported in the match summary by both the director and the president of São Paulo. The CBF did nothing, as usual, and considered Bruno Arleu’s decisions in the Majestoso to be correct.

Already in this 2025 season, Bruno Arleu de Araújo was even sidelined for a time by the CBF, after an error that favored Palmeiras. In the match for the 2nd round of the Brasileirão, between Sport and Palmeiras, the referee saw a handball by Matheus Alexandre in a dispute for the ball with Rafael Veiga and awarded a penalty, converted by Piquerez, in a 2-1 win for Palmeiras.

“Unfortunately, there are moments to instruct, to curb, and also to sideline. At this moment, the Refereeing Committee sidelines for instruction the teams of the matches in which, in the view of the CCEI, there were mistakes,” said Rodrigo Cintra, general coordinator of the CBF refereeing committee, at the time.

“The sidelining is not simply an empty punishment, it is so we can take care of the referees, instruct them, and so that, moving forward, there are no more mistakes of this kind, putting VAR and the field referee in sync,” Cintra concluded.

We hope the instructions have worked. To assist Arleu, on the sidelines will be assistants Rodrigo Figueiredo Henrique Corrêa (RJ) and Felipe Alan Costa de Oliveira (MG), with André Luiz Skettino Policarpo Bento (MG) as fourth official. The VAR booth will be led by Caio Max Vieira from Goiás.

In this Brasileirão, Bruno Arleu has officiated three Tricolor matches, all as the home team. The 2-0 win over Vitória, as well as the 1-0 defeats to Ceará and Bragantino, the latter also held at Vila Belmiro.

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