Judge Wilton Pereira Sampaio is called by the English the blind man who lost his guide dog

Used to criticism for his performances in the Brazilian Championship, Wilton Pereira Sampaio, 40, gained international status and became the target of fury from the English. The referee’s decisions were heavily questioned in the fall of England, eliminated from the World Cup in a 2-1 defeat by France.

Dissatisfied with some markings, or not markings, fans invaded the referee’s page on Wikipedia, in the English version, and made some changes.

Born in Teresina de Goiás, the judge had his nationality slightly shifted. “Wilton Pereira Sampaio is a blind French referee, who has lost his guide dog. Please return the dog if found, the dog has a match to whistle,” they wrote.

The excerpt was later removed from the online encyclopedia. However, another paragraph appeared on Saturday night (10), again, only in the English version.

“Sampaio was criticized for his performance in the World Cup quarter-final between England and France by some England players and pundits. BBC Sport reported that this criticism was justified due to his ‘erratic display’, while The Guardian commented that at times ‘it looked like he was guessing’ [as marcações]🇧🇷

Among the scoldings of the English is the bid of the first French goal, by Tchouaméni. At the origin of the play, defender Upamecano started the counterattack, taking the ball from Saka — with a foul, in the view of the English.

Upamecano didn’t touch the ball, just the legs of the Arsenal player, who lost his balance. Then, after the ball passed the feet of several Frenchmen, Tchouaméni hit the shot from outside the area that opened the scoring. As the move took a while to develop, the VAR (video referee) did not come into action.

Afterwards, Harry Kane was brought down at the entrance to the area, in a shot that was difficult to complete whether inside or outside the penalty area. Sampaio didn’t score anything, nor foul. VAR checked the shot and didn’t call the referee, probably because they didn’t have a clear picture that the shot happened inside the area.

Another move that aroused the fury of the crowd was one of the penalties scored for England in the second half, only with the help of the video. Even close to the move, Sampaio made the gesture that Mount had forced the takedown after Theo Hernández kicked him in the back. Shortly after, VAR called the Brazilian to the monitor, and the penalty was scored.

Defender Harry Maguire was one of those who complained about the performance of the refereeing team. “I can’t explain how bad the performance was,” he commented. “He never gave us anything.”

This was Sampaio’s fourth game in the Cup. The others were Netherlands 2 x 0 Senegal, Poland 2 x 0 Saudi Arabia and, in the round of 16, Netherlands 3 x 1 United States. Before this Saturday’s match, the referee was one of those tipped to conduct the final of the World Cup in Qatar, since the Brazilian team was out of the semifinal. After the match, however, Sampaio’s chances must have diminished.