Atlético v Cruzeiro derby: out-of-state referees for State Championship | OneFootball

The Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF) announced in an official statement that Atlético and Cruzeiro met at the entity’s headquarters to discuss the organizational details of the derby to be played next Sunday, January 25th, at 6:00 PM, at Arena MRV, in Belo Horizonte, for the fifth round of the Campeonato Mineiro Sicoob 2026.

By agreement between the two clubs, the FMF held a draw to determine that the refereeing team would come from outside the state, with the aim of ensuring impartiality in conducting the match.

The FMF Refereeing Committee will forward a request to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to define the refereeing team assigned to the match, as provided for in the standardization of state clashes, and the announcement of the names will be made in the coming days.

This Sunday’s match will also see the return of visiting fans at the derbies. The expectation is that around 2,500 tickets will be made available to Cruzeiro fans in the visiting section.

The presence of visiting fans at derbies in Arena MRV has not occurred since October 2023, when Cruzeiro defeated Atlético-MG 1-0 with the support of their fans at the rival’s stadium. Subsequently, the boards of both clubs had reached an agreement for the matches between the teams to have single-fan attendance during the 2024 and 2025 seasons — an understanding that has expired and was not renewed for 2026.

The last match between the clubs took place in the 28th round of last year’s Brasileiro. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Matheus Pereira scored for Cruzeiro, while Ruan Tressoldi equalized for Atlético.

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