Santos Criticizes Refereeing Decisions After Loss to Red Bull Bragantino
Santos director of football Alexandre Mattos intensified his criticism of refereeing in the Brazilian Championship following the club’s loss to Red Bull Bragantino. Mattos expressed his outrage over what he perceived as unfavorable decisions against Santos during the team’s last two matches, particularly highlighting the derby against Palmeiras and the defeat to Bragantino.
After the setback in Bragança Paulista, Mattos addressed the media in the mixed zone, targeting referee Edina Alves Batista, along with Flávio Rodrigues de Souza, who officiated the previous derby. “We need to put things right, work harder, do what Santos had been doing in other games, and fix whatever needs fixing. That’s the first thing we want to say, so we’re not making excuses by pointing to other people’s mistakes,” he stated. “But there’s no denying that Santos are outraged by what’s happening, because the last two games were a disgrace. There were appalling mistakes,” he insisted.
The executive emphasized that the club would not remain passive and confirmed that administrative actions were already in progress. “Santos will no longer stay silent. Santos have already contacted the CBF. I’ve just spoken to the people at the CBF myself. We’ll do what we can, which is to lodge a formal complaint, and obviously speak to them in person. We’ll ask for a different approach toward Santos, which is what Santos demand,” he added.
Controversial incidents
Discussing the derby against Palmeiras, Mattos voiced concerns over a possible penalty for Santos but primarily criticized the failure to dismiss Palmeiras left-back Piquerez. “Piquerez should have been sent off. A second yellow in the game, absolutely clear-cut. That’s why Abel took him off… We don’t know what would have happened, but they would have been a man down, and it was clear. I think the referee realized it would mean sending the player off and chose not to apply the rules,” he explained.
In the match against Bragantino, Santos’ main grievance, supported by coach Cuca and players on social media, was the lack of a penalty call for a foul on forward Rony in the second half. This decision drew criticism from PC Oliveira, a refereeing analyst at Grupo Globo, who believed a foul had occurred.
“It was reckless. I think Edina said, ‘There’s VAR, I’ll leave it.’ I believe the VAR official (Rodrigo Guarizo Ferreira do Amaral) reviewed it and thought it might be an on-field judgment call,” Mattos concluded sarcastically as the interview came to a close.
