Lawyers from the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) delivered to the Senate’s CPI for Gaming and Sports Betting Manipulation a document detailing the criteria for choosing referees in Brasileirão matches.
CBF lineup criteria and debate on referee draw
According to the minutes of the last meeting of the CBF arbitration commission, the roster of referees takes into account “the phases of the competition, the importance and degree of complexity of each match and the qualification, physical conditioning and technical performance of the referees”.
Furthermore, the selection of referees for games involving clubs from the same federation against teams from other states is prohibited. They also cannot referee matches involving the same team in consecutive rounds.
The Game Manipulation CPI has internal divisions regarding the idea of holding draws to choose referees. Senators such as Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) and Chico Rodrigues (PSB-RR) support the implementation of a draw that respects the technical criteria established by the sporting entity.
However, they argue that the process guarantees an impartial and objective final decision. On the other hand, the president of the Inquiry Commission, Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO), strongly disagrees with this proposal.
“The draw is only successful if it is done one hour before the game, without announcing the names of which referees will participate. What’s the point of drawing if you’re going to announce on Friday (before the round) the names of the referees who will participate in the draw?”, said Kajuru.
Data on repeat lineups
The document that the CBF delivered to the CPI shows that Raphael Claus acted as a field referee and Daiane Muniz as a joint video referee in 11 rounds of the 2023 Series A.
Other repeated pairs include Braulio Machado and Rodrigo Dalonso who played together in seven rounds. Furthermore, Anderson Daronco and Wagner Reway, in six, and Flavio Souza and Rodrigo Guarizo, also in six.
Transparency in choosing referees to avoid game manipulation
During his testimony to the CPI, Wilson Seneme, head of arbitration at the CBF, defended the public hearings that announce the referees for each match as a transparency measure.
However, he explained that these public meetings only publicize the chosen arbitrators, without providing details about the individual criteria for selecting each one or which other names were considered.
“I think the draw makes all this work that I mentioned difficult. It’s like asking a coach to draw the team he wants to play,” Seneme told the CPI.
“It may be a possibility within a law, but I don’t see the need for it to be mandatory nowadays”, he concluded.
