Corinthians hero Hugo Souza condemns sexist remarks, backs female referee | OneFootball

Corinthians secured a spot in the semifinals of the Paulistão this Sunday (23), at Canindé, by overcoming Portuguesa in penalties after a 1-1 draw in regular time. The protagonist of the night, Hugo Souza, shone with decisive saves and, after the final whistle, also drew attention for his stance off the field by speaking out against the sexist remarks made by Gustavo Marques of Red Bull Bragantino, in support of referee Daiane Muniz.

“I spoke earlier with the girls, but I wanted to publicly express my feelings about what happened yesterday in the Bragantino interview. This should not happen,” stated the Corinthians goalkeeper, emphasizing that criticism of refereeing is part of football but should not be tainted by prejudice.

Photo: Reproduction/Corinthians

“We players are annoying, we complain, and we know they make mistakes and get things right. It’s not because someone is a man or a woman that we should differentiate things. We will hold them accountable when necessary, but it should be in the same way and fair.”

Hugo also described the Bragantino defender's comments as “very unfortunate” and extended solidarity to the professional.

The statement comes after Gustavo Marques questioned Daiane Muniz's performance in the elimination of Massa Bruta, in an interview with TNT Sports, last Saturday (22), associating the refereeing with the professional's gender.

The declaration caused a strong negative backlash. Bragantino's coach, Vágner Mancini, stated that the player was unfortunate, while the club issued an official statement condemning the content of the remarks and apologizing to the referee and women. The Paulista Football Federation (FPF) also took a firm stance, labeling the episode as sexist and announced the case would be referred to the Sports Justice.

Qualified on a night of tension and emotion at Canindé, Corinthians avoided the classic against Palmeiras and will face Novorizontino in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, the archrival faces São Paulo. The matches are scheduled for next weekend. Before that, Timão faces Cruzeiro at Mineirão on Wednesday (25), for the fourth round of the Brasileirão.

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