Error-prone, controversial referee picked for São Paulo v Botafogo | OneFootball

São Paulo learned this Thursday (21) the referee who will officiate its next Brazilian Championship match against Botafogo this Saturday (23), at 5 p.m. (Brasília time), at Morumbi.

The man in charge of refereeing the clash with the Rio side will be Paraná native Lucas Casagrande, who was even suspended by the CBF for a blatant error at the end of 2025 and has already been involved in several controversies in his career, despite still being only 25 years old. The announcement was made by the Brazilian Confederation at a public hearing at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) on Thursday afternoon.

As the CBF عادة informs, the selection of referees is defined by taking into account the stages of the competition, the importance and degree of complexity of each match, and the referees’ qualifications, fitness, and technical performance.

This season, Casagrande has already officiated two matches involving Tricolor, both in the Brasileirão, without major damage. He was the referee in the 2-0 win over Chapecoense and in the 1-1 draw with Internacional.

Casagrande drew negative attention in the match between Grêmio and Bragantino in the 2025 Brasileirão. The Rio Grande do Sul side complained heavily about the sending-off of center-back Kannemann still in the first half and the penalty that sealed the São Paulo side’s 1-0 victory in the match.

After the mistakes, the CBF Refereeing Committee decided to sideline for the famous retraining process the referees and VAR operators who worked the match valid for the 27th round of the Brazilian Championship.

OTHER CONTROVERSIES

Before that, still last year, Lucas Casagrande was at the center of controversy in the match between América-RN and Treze in Série D. The 1-1 draw sparked outrage in the Rio Grande do Norte team, which blasted the referee’s performance.

“I want to express my repudiation of the refereeing and ask Wilson Seneme, president of the CBF refereeing committee, to pay attention to all divisions of the Brazilian Championship,” criticized América-RN football executive Marcelo Sant’Ana. He also called Casagrande’s performance “disastrous,” highlighting mistakes in important plays, such as the penalty missed by Souza.

Later, already at the end of the 2025 season, the referee was criticized in the first Taça FPF final, won by Azuriz over Cianorte 1-0. The losing side complained about two penalties not awarded in their favor and the opponent’s goal, after an alleged handball.

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