Hulk vents after being booked on the bench in Atlético’s win over Mirassol

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·28 septembre 2025

Hulk vents after being booked on the bench in Atlético’s win over Mirassol

Atlético striker Hulk was at the center of a controversial episode during the team's 1-0 win over Mirassol last Saturday (27th) at Arena MRV, in the 25th round of the Brazilian Championship. Even without stepping onto the field, the number 7 received a yellow card at 47 minutes into the second half, issued by referee Rafael Rodrigo Klein.

Upset, Hulk vented after the match, saying he had done nothing to justify the punishment.

Vidéos OneFootball

The referee has the microphone and the headset, right? So everything is recorded! Ask him to show if there’s any recording, if at any moment I spoke to him. I didn’t! If you look at the play, we were worried about Jr. Santos, who had gotten injured. I was bent over, asking him what happened, and Sampaoli was next to me, also asking what happened. Junior said his adductor had torn and I told the coach, who hadn’t understood at the time.

The striker went on: “We were all worried there and the guy was sending us to the bench. The game was stopped and we were concerned because our teammate had suffered a serious injury. Then out of nowhere he came and gave me a yellow card.”

The striker went further and raised suspicions of persecution: “When I got to the bench everyone told me: ‘Hulk, this is surreal, it’s not normal, they’re targeting you. All the players were there, everyone on the sidelines.’ For what reason did he give me a yellow card? (…) What happened today is surreal, it needs to be investigated! There’s a lot of suspicious stuff going on behind the scenes!”.

I want to see the match report. If he says I gave him a dirty look, I didn’t even do that. At no point did I look at the referee, or argue with the fourth official or the linesman. I was worried about our player. Some things are just surreal!

Emotional, Hulk recalled that he has received other cards for complaining, but insisted that this time was different:

Have I gotten cards for complaining? Yes, I admit it! That’s why I stopped wearing the captain’s armband, so I wouldn’t have to talk to the referees and get carded. But today was surreal! For God’s sake, I’m a family man, I work all week and the guy does this? Now you go home and a bunch of people who don’t know what happened blame you. But I was just there on the bench cheering for the team and the guy comes and gives me a yellow for nothing. Sorry, but this needs to be investigated! I’m not accusing anyone, but this needs to be looked into. I’ve gotten a lot of yellow cards here for complaining and I admit it. I’ve gotten others without even saying anything! But today’s was the most ridiculous in my entire life. I was simply on the bench with my teammates and the guy comes and gives me a yellow and just walks away.

Atlético promises formal action

Atlético’s CSO, Paulo Bracks, also spoke out after the game and promised action behind the scenes:

“I listened to Hulk after the game and his indignation over the yellow card. The level of his complaint is striking and will not be ignored. We will take formal measures with the CBF’s refereeing committee on Monday,” he stated.

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