Mercado rages at officiating, demands Carlos Vinicius red in Gre-Nal and asks where VAR was | OneFootball

Mercado rages at officiating, demands Carlos Vinicius red in Gre-Nal and asks where VAR was | OneFootball

In partnership with

Yahoo sports
Icon: OffsAIde

OffsAIde

·28 August 2026

Mercado rages at officiating, demands Carlos Vinicius red in Gre-Nal and asks where VAR was

Article image:Mercado rages at officiating, demands Carlos Vinicius red in Gre-Nal and asks where VAR was

Mercado condemned the officiating in the Gre-Nal and pressed for Carlos Vinicius to be sent off after a contentious first-half incident. According to Globo.com, Internacional protested Ramon Abatti Abel’s decision and demanded a red card.

In the closing minutes of the half, the Grêmio striker, already on a yellow card, rose for an aerial ball and caught Internacional full-back Bruno Gomes in the face with his arm. Both players went to ground, and in the fall Vinicius’s foot also struck Gomes’s face.


OneFootball Videos


Speaking at the interval, Mercado asked how a booked player was not dismissed for an elbow and where the VAR and the officiating team were. He also called on the CBF to answer for the decision.

He warned the incident could decide a tie and even the Gre-Nal itself, saying too much work goes into the fixture for such irresponsibility. His remarks underlined Internacional’s anger at the handling of the flashpoint.

The furore came in the final moments before the break, heightening tensions as the players left the pitch.

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”

View publisher imprint