Disgusted with penalty marking that resulted in elimination in Paulistão 2025, the São Paulo threatened behind the scenes not to use their holders at the Paulista Championship of 2026. The information was initially published by the site “GE.com”.
Tricolor sent a Official Letter to the Paulista Federation of Futebol This Tuesday (11/03). In it, asked for Exclusion of referee Flávio Rodrigues de Souza do Quatro de FPF referees And said that will analyze how it will behave compared to Paulistan of 2026, and may not put its main cast. In the current edition of the Paulista Championship, Flávio Rodrigues de Souza whistled nine duels.
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The document also cited other issues beyond the penalty scheduled for Palmeiras. In the letter, Tricolor criticized the arbitration stance in conducting the classic and marking other absences, recalling that Flávio Rodrigues de Souza had been dismissed by the CBF of his referees in 2024 for an error in the match between Vitória and Fluminense, by the Brasileirão. At the time, he scored a penalty mistaken for Vitória and was four rounds “in the refrigerator”.
In addition to irritation for the penalty marking, the management of São Paulo football was bothered by a statement by Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos, president of the FPF. In it, Reinaldo spoke at a news conference on Tuesday that goalkeeper Rafael could have avoided the penalty “if he had kicked forward” the ball.
How was the penalty
Palmeiras scored the only 1-0 win over Sao Paulo on a penalty that generated controversy. Raphael Veiga converted the charge 46 minutes into the first half and Alviverde qualified for the final of Paulistan 2025. The marking of referee Flávio Rodrigues de Souza was the target of immediate debate.
The bid that resulted in the marked penalty began with a “lick” of the defense of São Paulo. Rafael received a retreat and was wrong to play for Arboleda. Vitor Roque stole the ball and fell into contact with the Ecuadorian defender.
Flávio Rodrigues de Souza marked the penalty conveniently. He arrived when he talked to the players of Sao Paulo: “I saw.” He did not go to VAR to reevaluate the bid, despite the tricolor appeals.
Palmeiras x São Paulo: opinions on penalty marked
Salvio Spinola – Former referee and referee commentator at Record
“You can clearly see that Arboleda collects the leg and Vitor Roque falls. For me, it wasn’t a penalty.”
Bruno Formiga – TNT Sports commentator
“Vitor Roque looks a lot of Arboleda’s leg. I think it was not a penalty. But there are some elements there that make it difficult to get in (even more so if the referee playing that saw contact).”
Vitor Sergio Rodrigues – Commentator of TNT Sports
“Seeing at the normal speed of Replay you could see that Vitor Roque dug the penalty. What is the reason the VAR didn’t call to review a bid where before the Arboleda contact Vitor Roque was already fully designed, I don’t know.”
Raí Monteiro – Commentator of the young Pan
“I have rarely seen a bid to have such unanimous assessment, even by the fans, on this social network and in a stadium. The penalty marked on Vitor Roque is one of the greatest absurdities in recent history in a big and decisive game.”
Bolivia – Influencer
“Po, game was so good, played, open, disputed, balanced… such a penalty is a lot of slutty.”
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