Referee reports abuse from Corinthians staff, calls for police 🚨 | OneFootball

The referee Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima reported in the match summary between Corinthians and Flamengo that he was allegedly insulted by staff members of the alvinegro club after the final whistle and needed police assistance to reach the locker room. The match ended in a 1-1 draw at the Neo Química Arena, during the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship.

According to the document, Leonardo Carnevale, Brand and New Business Manager, and Mauro Van Basten, technical observer of Timão, allegedly directed insults at the referee.

“After the end of the game in front of the referee's locker room door, we were approached by people identified with the SC Corinthians shirt, where two of them stood out by shouting and speaking offensive words to this referee: ‘Always against us, scoundrel, you're kidding’. Mr. Leonardo Carnevale and Mr. Mauro Van Basten were identified,” wrote the referee.

Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima also stated that he needed an escort from part of the Military Police force to enter the locker room designated for the referees.

“I also inform that it was necessary for the Military Police to use force so that the refereeing team could enter their designated locker room,” he completed in the summary.

Refereeing highly criticized

The refereeing of Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima was heavily criticized by directors of Corinthians and Flamengo. On the alvinegro side, Marcelo Paz questioned a penalty not awarded to André and publicly asked the CBF to prevent the referee from officiating Timão's games again. José Boto, on the other hand, criticized the expulsion of Evertton Araújo and also pointed out a possible red card for Gabriel Paulista, who hit Jorginho's face before a corner kick.

Like the directors, the players did not hold back against the refereeing. Gustavo Henrique complained that the ball barely rolled after Evertton Araújo's expulsion, six minutes into the second half, while Danilo questioned the referee's decision to show the red card, even after a VAR review.

Coach Dorival Júnior was also not satisfied and, like Marcelo Paz, mentioned the unawarded penalty on André. “We didn't have another game flowing. That's why I would have liked it to continue 11 against 11. Because it was being played more naturally. […] We sought width on the sides, attacks through the middle, with aerial balls. We used the arsenal we have. We didn't succeed, but we had an absurdly unawarded penalty, which prevented a better result,” he said.

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 extend to seven consecutive games — two losses and five draws in that stretch.

Upcoming Corinthians matches

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