Filipe Luís, Léo Ortiz and Saúl slam Flamengo referee: “We knew it’d be tough” | OneFootball

Refereeing Was a Topic After Flamengo vs Cruzeiro Match

When Ramon Abatti Abel’s name appeared on the list to officiate the match between Flamengo and Cruzeiro, Filipe Luís already anticipated complications, which were confirmed. With inconsistent criteria and many fouls, the referee disrupted the flow of the game. After the 0-0 draw on Thursday (02), the coach, Léo Ortiz and Saúl complained.

— Well, whenever I, as a coach, whenever I’ve sat in this chair here, I’ve chosen not to talk about referees… but it’s difficult. It’s difficult, honestly. Because you have feelings on the sidelines, you’re watching the referee officiate. When his name came out, we already knew it would be complicated. The profile of the referee who officiates Flamengo games, when the list comes out, you already know it’s going to be complicated. So, what can I say? The game starts, and the decisions are not the same. As you yourselves said, the criteria are not the same. Cards at first, then no card, then gives a card for a play he didn’t before. Yeah, I don’t know — said Filipe Luís.

— I don’t know if he was nervous, if he was afraid to officiate, but these things are passed on to the players, it makes the game slow, makes the game boring, bad for the spectator. And our reference, as you said, to improve, is the Premier League. We have to copy the Premier League referees all the time, the way they do it. We have good referees in Brazil, the way they officiate there, it’s about trying to copy as much as possible from the best. That’s it. I do that as a coach, I copy from the best. It’s the only way to improve. But you know very well how much a referee who officiates the game can harm us — added the coach.

WHAT DID THE PLAYERS SAY?

In the mixed zone at Maracanã, Léo Ortiz and Saúl reinforced Filipe Luís’s comments. The defender tried not to dwell too much on the subject to avoid repercussions, but called for more consistent refereeing for the remainder of the Brasileirão 2025.

— It’s really annoying to talk about refereeing, I even apologize. What bothers me is the change in criteria from one referee to another. That’s the most harmful thing. Cruzeiro was also bothered. When both teams are upset, it’s complicated. It’s not good for us to keep exposing ourselves with this. At some point, we’ll play with this same referee again. We need to think of a single way for referees to officiate, to have a standard — began Léo Ortiz.

— The refereeing breaks up the rhythm a bit. Cruzeiro’s strategy was to break our rhythm in this way. And the referee stopped the game a lot, and we were always trying to play. Above all, the group has to overcome this, compete. But we get anxious, we want to fight — concluded the defender.

HAVE YOU GOTTEN USED TO IT YET, SAÚL?

Accustomed to the European style of refereeing, Saúl is still struggling to adapt to Brazilian refereeing. The Spaniard revealed that he spoke with Abatti Abel to make the match more dynamic, but his request was unsuccessful.

— We told him that the most important thing for the game was to allow it to flow. But he gave out a lot of unnecessary yellow cards, stopped the game a lot. Let us play! They weren’t hard fouls, just tactical ones. But anyway, that’s something from outside, we focus on ourselves. We played three home games and couldn’t win, only draw. Now we have to think about Sunday to get the three points — lamented Saúl.

WHEN IS FLAMENGO’S NEXT GAME?

Hoping for better refereeing, Flamengo faces Bahia this Sunday (05), in Salvador, for the 27th round of the Brasileirão. The match kicks off at 6:30 pm (Brasília time), at Arena Fonte Nova, with full coverage from Coluna do Fla.

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