In a statement released on Monday evening, Palmeiras declared that the Brazilian Football Confederation’s (CBF) Referee Commission acknowledged an error in disallowing Bruno Fuchs’ goal, which would have secured a victory for the Verdão against Remo in Belém during the Brazilian Championship.
The controversial play involved the ball lightly brushing Flaco López’s hand before reaching Bruno Fuchs, who struck it and scored what would have been the winning goal. The referee reviewed the incident via the VAR monitor and ultimately decided to annul the goal.
According to the club’s announcement, football director Anderson Barros called for measures to prevent such significant errors from recurring and cautioned that further mistakes could undermine the tournament’s credibility.
Palmeiras denied reports circulating during the day that the club had requested disciplinary action against match referee Rafael Klein and video assistant referee Rafael Traci. “The club understands that all professionals, including the best, are prone to mistakes,” the statement read.
The club praised the investments made by the CBF to improve Brazilian refereeing but once again criticized the lack of consistency in decisions, such as punishing referee Ramon Abatti Abel in 2025 for failing to award a penalty in favor of São Paulo against Palmeiras.
“Simplistic solutions, adopted merely to provide momentary satisfaction to external pressures or third parties, will not contribute to the evolution of refereeing or national football,” the statement concluded.
Palmeiras leads the Brazilian Championship with 34 points. However, the setback allowed second-placed Flamengo to reduce the gap to just four points.
This week, the Verdão faces the return leg of the Copa do Brasil fifth round against Bahia’s Jacuipense. In the first leg, Abel Ferreira’s team won 3-0. The match is scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30 PM local time at Estádio do Café in Londrina, Paraná.
