Corinthians football chief fumes over refereeing blunder against Inter

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Central do Timão

·2 de octubre de 2025

Corinthians football chief fumes over refereeing blunder against Inter

By Daniel Keppler / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the night of Wednesday, October 1st, Corinthians returned to the field for the Brazilian Championship. In a match valid for the 26th round of the competition, the Alvinegro went to Beira-Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre to face Internacional, and drew 1-1, due to a penalty goal conceded in the last minute after Gui Negão opened the scoring in the first half.

After the match, football executive Fabinho Soldado spoke to the press in the mixed zone, where he commented on the indignation of Corinthians fans regarding the penalty awarded against the club: “I went down (to the field) to calm our players so they wouldn’t receive harsher punishments. Our president was very clear in his statements about the refereeing. This is the second consecutive game in which we were clearly harmed and we are outraged. Dorival also said that the coach is under pressure, that it’s part of his profession, the management, all of that we don’t shy away from, because it’s inherent to our profession.”

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Photo: Ciro Hey/Central do Timão

He continued. “Brazilian refereeing, in general, is very bad. We have a dialogue, we expected there would be improvement, but it hasn’t happened. And we’re not going to accept it, we are outraged by all of this. What’s going to happen on Saturday in the game? Another interference from the refereeing, from VAR? And Corinthians harmed in an extremely tough championship?” he questioned.

The executive clarified that his outrage does not ignore Corinthians’ own responsibilities in achieving results, involving players, coach, and management, making it clear that the problem is the refereeing mistakes: “At this specific moment we are feeling very harmed in relation to some decisions that have already happened.”

Fabinho reflected on an alleged lack of public complaints from Corinthians on the matter, recalling that he has already been punished for protesting. “When we made a complaint about the refereeing, I myself was punished for two games. So there was pressure regarding all of this and now we have to wait until Monday, to see what the referee wrote in the match report so that the decisions can be established by him,” he said.

The protests also include the error that occurred in the lead-up to Flamengo’s second goal over the weekend, when the linesman wrongly awarded a throw-in, taking possession away from Corinthians. He stated that any action regarding the issues pointed out by the club should come from the competent authorities, who, according to Fabinho, are being pressed.

“We are competing in an extremely tough Brazilian Championship and we don’t want favoritism, (but) we also don’t want to be harmed. So it is right to express our indignation. Again, we have a game on Saturday at home, it’s important, two and a half days for a difficult preparation, Dorival is doing his best. (…) I hope that on Saturday we’re not here again talking about refereeing.”

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