Paz slams denied penalty, wants referee barred from Corinthians games | OneFootball

Marcelo Paz, director of football at Corinthians, decided to publicly express the outrage of the club's board with the refereeing led by Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima in the 1-1 draw against Flamengo this Saturday at the Neo Química Arena, during the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship.

The director cited the escalation of alleged errors by Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima in recent Corinthians games. First, he mentioned the match against Internacional, when the referee awarded a controversial penalty in stoppage time, allowing Inter to equalize the match. Then, he recalled the long stoppage times given in the match against Athletico-PR in this year's Brasileirão.

“We came to talk about today's refereeing and show all of Corinthians' indignation, with the whole process that culminated in his appointment for today. He already had a very complicated performance in the Corinthians game last year against Internacional, in Porto Alegre, there he already left an embarrassing situation with his refereeing, which was very bad, penalty at the end of the game and complicated refereeing. This year, we had the game at Arena da Baixada, against Athletico-PR. Once again, complicated refereeing, gave 14 minutes, then nine, plus five, expelled a member of the technical staff. At halftime, the players were already outraged with his performance. And once again, very bad refereeing,” argued Paz.

The director then said that Corinthians took the matter to the CBF. Paz mentioned that he personally spoke with Rodrigo Cintra, president of the entity's Refereeing Commission, and requested that the referee no longer officiate Timão's matches. In February this year, Gazeta Esportiva revealed that the club was already considering measures with the confederation to ban the referee from matches.

“What did we do? I had a conversation at the CBF with the president of the Refereeing Commission and spoke directly with him. We raised the issue of the ban. They don't like the suggestion of a ban, but we clearly stated that he should not officiate Corinthians games this year. I said he had a difficult situation, the players already reject him, the technical staff too. So I asked to avoid him until the end of the year. I spoke personally and suggested. It's not a ban. I suggested he shouldn't officiate anymore. But this is what happens in a game of this magnitude, Rodrigo José Pereira comes to officiate Corinthians' game. There are many negative things about Mr. Rodrigo, so the consensus is that he shouldn't officiate. But they appointed him,” criticized Paz.

He thus reiterated the request publicly this Sunday, shortly before coach Dorival Júnior's press conference.

Paz speaks out on referee's decisions

From there, Paz criticized the refereeing in Sunday's draw. The executive agreed with Gustavo Henrique's view, that there was little playing time after Evertton Araújo's expulsion in the second half, and also questioned the non-awarding of a penalty for Corinthians.

In the incident in question, André controlled the ball inside the area and ended up falling after being pressured by two Flamengo players. The referee did not award the penalty on the field, and the VAR also did not call the referee for a review on the monitor.

“Then comes today's game. After the expulsion, there was no more game. It was constantly interrupted. This was already a very bad point. The penalty was absurd, scandalous. It should have been awarded on the field. When you see the image, he is facing the play. But when he doesn't award it on the field, Mr. Wagner Reway should have called. The whole of Brazil saw it was a penalty. But the refereeing on the field didn't award it and the VAR didn't call. Direct damage. Lack of criteria too. He gave 14 minutes of stoppage time against Athletico-PR. Here he gave 10 and didn't fulfill the 10, there was a foul in our favor that could have generated a goal. He pushed Garro at the end, I don't think that's the conduct of refereeing,” he criticized.

Situation in the standings

The result was not positive for either team. Corinthians recorded another draw and dropped to 11th place, with 10 points. Timão also saw their winless streak increase, reaching seven consecutive games without a win — two losses and five draws in this period.

Upcoming Corinthians matches

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