Marcelo Paz slams refereeing, wants ref dropped from Corinthians games | OneFootball

After the 1-1 draw between Corinthians and Flamengo in the eighth round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship, the executive football director Marcelo Paz made a statement against the refereeing of Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima, the main referee of the match, who has a recent history of controversies against Timão.

Initially, Paz opened the press conference with an outburst, citing the recent context of games refereed by Rodrigo José Pereira de Lima, recalling the matches against Internacional in 2025 and Athletico in 2026:

Photo: Henrique Vigliotti/Central do Timão

“First, let’s remember, Rodrigo already had a very complicated performance in Corinthians’ game last year against Internacional in Porto Alegre. He already created an embarrassing situation regarding the club’s players, his refereeing was very poor, with a penalty at the end of the game. And then this year we had a game at Arena da Baixada against Athletico-PR, where, once again, it was a very complicated refereeing. He gave 14 minutes at the end, then nine, then another five. He sent off a member of the coaching staff. At halftime, the players were already outraged by his performance. I know because I’m in the locker room, you know, during and after the game.”

The director also mentioned a conversation he had with the president of the CBF Refereeing Commission, Rodrigo Cintra, suggesting that Rodrigo should not referee any more Corinthians matches in the 2026 season:

“I spoke personally with Cintra, (said that) Rodrigo has a difficult situation. The players already reject him, the coaching staff rejects him, Corinthians rejects this professional’s refereeing. I suggested that he shouldn’t referee anymore. So, what would common sense dictate? That he shouldn’t referee Corinthians’ games anymore. But what happens in a match of this magnitude, such a huge classic like Corinthians vs Flamengo, here comes Rodrigo José Pereira again to referee a Corinthians game.”

Now in a tone of protest, Marcelo Paz made the conversation public and called for the referee not to be assigned to any more Corinthians matches:

“I have a lot of respect for the work of the refereeing commission, but they made a mistake with this assignment. The proof was what happened in today’s game. So I made a private statement, suggesting that Rodrigo should not referee Corinthians’ games anymore. Now I make a public statement, that Rodrigo should not referee Corinthians’ games anymore. Since the private statement didn’t work, and he came to a match of this magnitude and disrupted the game, now I make it public, so that Mr. Rodrigo José Pereira, FIFA referee, does not referee Corinthians’ games anymore, because his record with us is very poor. Always to our detriment,” concluded Paz about the request made to the commission.

Marcelo Paz explained his outrage at the result, highlighting the issue of a possible penalty on midfielder André and the extra time given by the referee:

“The penalty was absurd, scandalous. It should have been given on the field. When you see the footage, he’s facing the play. It’s very clear. But since he didn’t give it on the field, Mr. Wagner Reway from VAR should have called him. All of Brazil saw it was a penalty. But the refereeing on the field didn’t give it, and VAR also didn’t call for a review. So, a direct loss, a chance for victory there through a penalty.”

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