Abel Ferreira defends referee, says no penalty warranted in Palmeiras-São Paulo clash

Abel Ferreira walked out of the Morumbi on Sunday having just orchestrated a stunning comeback—Palmeiras had erased a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 against São Paulo—but the manager's mind was already elsewhere. In the moments after the final whistle, he was thinking about the call that wasn't made, the moment that had hung over the match like an unresolved question.

The controversial play had come early, when São Paulo was still commanding the game at 2-0. Allan of São Paulo had gone down in the box, and the home team's players and supporters erupted, certain they had been denied a penalty. The referee saw it differently and let play continue. When Ferreira was asked about it afterward, he offered something unexpected: agreement with the official's judgment. He hadn't yet watched the replay, he said, but from what he remembered of the sequence, the ball was simply too far away to constitute a genuine contest between players. "If the ball had been there to be fought for, I would have marked it," the Portuguese coach explained. "But there was no dispute happening in that moment. The ball was distant."

Yet Ferreira's defense of the referee came with a sharp counterpoint. He believed the official had made a different error—one that, in his view, might have rendered the penalty question moot entirely. Bobadilla, a São Paulo player, should have been sent off with a second yellow card after grabbing Allan, Ferreira argued. The manager had made his feelings known to the referee in real time. "Why did he give Veiga a yellow on his first foul and then not send off Bobadilla when he grabbed Allan and it was clearly a second offense?" Ferreira asked, his frustration evident. Had that expulsion happened, the entire trajectory of the match might have shifted. The penalty debate would have been overshadowed by the numerical disadvantage São Paulo would have faced.

Before diving into the specifics of individual decisions, Ferreira had framed his thoughts on refereeing more broadly. He spoke of three systemic needs: first, that referees operate with genuine independence and institutional unity; second, that they be paid salaries befitting the responsibility they carry; and third, that they receive proper professionalization and ongoing training. "These things don't happen overnight," he acknowledged, a note of resignation in his voice. The implication was clear—Brazilian football's refereeing problems ran deeper than any single match or moment.

On the broader canvas of the match itself, Ferreira was candid about the first half. São Paulo had been the superior team, he admitted. Palmeiras had struggled to impose themselves. But the second forty-five minutes had belonged entirely to his side. The substitutes he had sent onto the pitch had made an immediate impact, and by the end, Palmeiras had earned their three points through sheer force of will and execution. It was a difficult victory, hard-won and exhausting—the kind that stays with a team.