CBF sees penalty scored in favor of Santos as an error and removes referee Bruno Arleu de Araújo

The president of the CBF Arbitration Commission, Wilson Seneme, reported that the referee Bruno Arleu de Araújo was removed for mistakenly scoring a penalty during Santos’ 4-3 victory over Goiás, for the 14th round of the Brasileirão, in the last Sunday. According to the official, the judge was included in the PADA (Referee Performance Assistance Program).

In the bid in question, the clock marked 44 minutes of the second half and the scoreboard showed a 3-3 tie, when Santos Joaquim fell after a shoulder-to-shoulder dispute, without the ball, with Lucas Halter, from Goiás. “The ball is not in the context of dispute, the number 3 only goes in the body of the opponent, the ball is not at a distance of dispute”, says Araújo in communication with VAR when scoring the penalty.

In response, the video referee recommended a review, as he considered the move a normal area action, but Bruno defended the decision taken on the field even after reassessing the move on the monitor. When evaluating the episode during “Papo de Arbitragem”, a weekly CBF online program, Seneme says that, even with the ball still far from Halter and Joaquim, the movement made by both is natural and a fight for space.

“The referee interprets an action. In our view, in this specific case, it is an interpretation that was not legal. It is not a correct interpretation. This shoulder to shoulder action falls into the situation that, despite the absence of the ball, as the people understand football, it’s a traveling ball, the defender is marking territory. When he throws his shoulder, he doesn’t throw his arm, he doesn’t push, he doesn’t grab”, he said.

Seneme also highlighted the fact that Arleu insisted on the decision even after hearing the opinion of the video referee. “He threw his shoulder with a force proportional to the action. This was what the video referee was able to identify and the field referee was not. This action is a mistake, the penalty should not have been called. We put it in the group of instructors, and 11 of our instructors did not find a penalty. It is clear that it was a misinterpretation by the referee, that is why he is called for the review”, he stated.

The penalty was converted by striker Mendoza and helped Santos to breathe in the fight against relegation in the Brasileirão. Now, the club from the coast of São Paulo is in 13th place, with 16 points, five from Goiás, the first team within the degola.