Famous, controversial referee set for São Paulo v Palmeiras derby | OneFootball

With little time to dwell on their first defeat in the Brasileirão, a 1-0 loss to Atlético-MG, São Paulo, now in second place, already has to focus on Palmeiras, their rival in the upcoming derby this Saturday (21st), at 9pm (Brasília time), at Morumbi.

And the CBF has already announced this Thursday (19th) the referee for the Choque-Rei, which is simply worth the lead in the league, since the opponent has taken the top spot from Tricolor. The famous and controversial referee from Rio Grande do Sul, Anderson Daronco, will be in charge of officiating the match.

The derby comes loaded with major controversies from recent encounters. Some blatant mistakes by referees, acknowledged by the responsible entities, have greatly angered São Paulo. On the other side, coach Abel Ferreira always mentions Tricolor and keeps the rivalry burning.

As is customarily informed by the CBF, the selection of referees is determined by considering the stages of the competition, the importance and degree of complexity of each match, as well as the qualification, physical conditioning, and technical performance of the referees.

To try to keep tempers in check for the approaching derby at Morumbi, the CBF is turning to the experienced and controversial Daronco, who has also greatly irritated Tricolor in matches he has officiated.

CONTROVERSIAL HISTORY

The most recent was in the 2025 Brasileirão, when the Morumbi club went to Mineirão and lost 1-0 to Cruzeiro. On that occasion, Anderson Daronco’s officiating, even without direct errors affecting the score, still contributed to the frustrating scenario of São Paulo’s defeat.

His conduct was marked by biased decisions, almost always favoring Cruzeiro in questionable plays. A yellow card given to Luciano after he was fouled illustrates the reversal of criteria: while the São Paulo player was rightly cautioned, Cruzeiro’s Villalba got away unpunished after an aggressive confrontation. Five minutes later, he was shown a yellow for a hard foul, without being sent off.

Even more absurd was the card shown to Patryck. The match report mentions a “reckless trip,” but the footage shows it wouldn’t even be acceptable as a punishment for dissent, let alone for a trip that didn’t happen: the number 36 only played the ball. To top it off, Wânderson was injured after unintentionally colliding with the São Paulo player.

Daronco was also at the center of another controversial moment in Tricolor’s recent history. In the second leg of the 2023 Copa do Brasil quarterfinals, against Palmeiras at their stadium, the referee from Rio Grande do Sul disallowed a headed goal by Calleri, even after VAR recommended a review of the play, citing a foul by Diego Costa on Zé Rafael.

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