São Paulo v Bragantino: Controversial referee returns, fans wary | OneFootball

With the Brasileirão returning in full force, São Paulo already knows who will referee their next match in the competition, which takes place this Sunday (15) at 8:30 PM (Brasília time), against Bragantino, away from home.

The CBF announced in a public hearing held at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) that the Carioca Bruno Arleu de Araújo will referee the Tricolor's match in the interior of São Paulo. He will be assisted on the field by Thiago Henrique Neto Correa Farinha and Thayse Marques Fonseca, both also from Rio. In the VAR booth will be Rodolpho Toski Marques, from Paraná.

As is customarily informed by the CBF, the selection of referees is defined taking into account the phases of the competition, the importance and degree of complexity of each match, and the qualification, physical conditioning, and technical performance of the referees.

Bruno Arleu refereed some São Paulo games in last year's Brasileirão without major controversies, but he is still under the club's scrutiny for his previous errors against the Tricolor.

THE CONTROVERSIES

Arleu has already caused immense outrage among the Tricolor's directors for his performance in the classic against Corinthians, in the 2023 Brasileirão. On that occasion, São Paulo complained about a penalty awarded in favor of Corinthians, in a play involving the full-back Rafinha, and the annulment of a goal scored by Jonathan Calleri in which the referee saw a foul by the Argentine.

The unfavorable decisions for São Paulo generated enormous protests from the club, including insults reported in the match summary by the director and president of São Paulo. The CBF did nothing, as usual, and considered Bruno Arleu's decisions in the Majestic correct.

Already in this 2025 season, Bruno Arleu de Araújo was even suspended for a time by the CBF, after an error favoring Palmeiras. In the game for the 2nd round of the Brasileirão, between Sport and Palmeiras, the referee saw a touch by Matheus Alexandre in a ball dispute with Rafael Veiga and awarded a penalty, converted by Piquerez, in a 2-1 victory for Palmeiras.

“Unfortunately, there are moments to instruct, restrain, and also to suspend. At this moment, the Arbitration Commission suspends for instruction the teams of the matches in which, in the view of the CCEI, there were mistakes,” said Rodrigo Cintra, general coordinator of the CBF's arbitration commission, at the time.

“The suspension is not simply an empty punishment, it is so that we can take care of the referees, instruct them, and subsequently, there will be no more mistakes of this nature, putting the VAR and the field referee in sync,” concluded Cintra.

We hope the instructions have worked. To assist Arleu, on the sidelines will be assistants Rodrigo Figueiredo Henrique Corrêa (RJ) and Felipe Alan Costa de Oliveira (MG), with André Luiz Skettino Policarpo Bento (MG) as the fourth referee. The VAR booth will be commanded by Caio Max Vieira from Goiás.

In this Brasileirão, Bruno Arleu has been in charge of three Tricolor matches, all as the home team. The 2-0 victory over Vitória, as well as the 1-0 defeats to Ceará and Bragantino, the latter match held at Vila Belmiro.

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