Brazilian Football Confederation [CBF] Director of Communications Rodrigo Paiva has ridiculed the idea that the Seleção are been favoured by referees.
The point has been hinted at by the Chilean press, as well as officials and players, over the past week, ahead of Saturday’s Round of 16 clash at the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto.
Paiva’s defence for Brazil hasn"t been helped by a couple of key decisions that have gone in their favour. The most controversial was a penalty awarded by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura for an apparent foul on forward Fred by defender Dejan Lovren in Brazil’s FIFA World Cup opener against Croatia. The score at the time was 1-1 and, with just 20 minutes remaining, the hosts hadn"t looked like scoring. Fred was also clearly offside when he netted in the 4-1 win over Cameroon. The score when he struck was 2-1.
Despite the alleged leniency that has favoured Brazil, Paiva has sternly criticised those who suggest foul play and believes they are showing a lack of respect.
"We are going to talk about this only once," he said, as reported by The Guardian. "The press in Chile have stressed this issue during the week and it is something that is immature. This kind of pressure is ridiculous.
"Talking about this is not a lack of respect towards Fifa, or to the referee himself or to the Brazilian Seleção or to the people who work here in a very serious manner, for a country with 100 years of football history and of a winning history – it is a lack of respect to the Brazilian people. Brazil doesn’t need a referee to win the match and you should respect a little bit more the Brazilian Seleção and the Brazilian people."
The referee for Saturday’s match in Belo Horizonte will be Howard Webb. The 42 year-old officiated the same fixture in the Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Brazil won 3-0.
