Victor Bagy slams refereeing, urges professionalism after Atlético draw | OneFootball

The 0-0 draw between Internacional and Atlético, this Sunday (02), at Beira-Rio, was marked by a confusing refereeing performance by the Carioca Alex Gomes Stefano. The game had three crucial play reviews by VAR, reversed decisions, and complaints. After the final whistle, Atlético's football director, Victor Bagy, criticized the refereeing team's performance and demanded professionalization and clearer criteria from the CBF.

Just 15 minutes into the first half, defender Vitor Hugo was sent off after a video review, in a play where the referee hadn't even called a foul on the field. The decision sparked outrage on the Atlético bench and conditioned the rest of the match.

Shortly after, the referee awarded a penalty to Atlético, in a play involving Rony and Bernabei. The forward was brought down inside the area, but once again called by VAR, Alex Gomes Stefano reversed the decision and canceled the penalty.

In the second half, it was Inter's turn to complain. The referee sent off Alan Patrick for a foul on Junior Alonso, but the decision was also reviewed and turned into a yellow card.

In the post-match press conference, Victor Bagy lamented what he called a “repetition of errors” and advocated for structural changes in Brazilian refereeing.

The director also highlighted the lack of criteria in decisions and the impact this has on the football product: “It's time to talk about professionalization (of refereeing). The criteria are very questionable. In games where we see sanctions, penalties, expulsions like in Vitor Hugo's case, but in other games that I don't need to mention, recently we had similar situations, including today in other matches of the round. We can't understand the criteria. When you use the term interpretation, you leave room for any decision. The contact that serves to expel Vitor Hugo doesn't serve to validate the penalty on Rony”.

Victor revealed he consulted refereeing specialists, who also considered the performance confusing and the use of VAR excessive.

“And before coming here, I try to inform myself. I have contacts with refereeing specialists and they were all emphatic that the refereeing was confusing, that the VAR intervention was evasive and excessive. I think we need to question, it's a referee who has already officiated 7 of our matches in the competition and it's the third game of ours he officiates in less than a month. On other occasions, we had complaints”, he stated.

Finally, the director emphasized that the club is not seeking favoritism, but equity and equality of criteria.

With the draw, Atlético reached 37 points and further distanced themselves from the relegation zone, occupying 13th place in the Brazilian Championship. Internacional, with 36 points, is in 15th place. Galo returns to the field next Wednesday (05), when they face Bahia at 8 PM at Arena MRV.

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