CBF dismisses Leonardo Gaciba as head of the Arbitration Commission

Ednaldo Rodrigues, acting president of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), dismissed the head of the Arbitration Committee, Leonardo Gaciba, 50, this Friday morning (12).

In a statement, the organization says that the current deputy of the referees sector, Alicio Pena Júnior, 53, from Minas Gerais, assumes the role on an interim basis until the end of this season. The CBF also claims that, from now on, it begins to reformulate “the structure of Brazilian arbitration”.

The decision was taken after successive errors of arbitration and contestation of the way the VAR (video referee) has been operated in the Brazilian Championship and in the Copa do Brasil.

The most recent case was this Thursday (11), in a match between Flamengo and Bahia. There is a complaint about a penalty scored in favor of the Rio de Janeiro team.

Former referee, Gaciba has chaired the department since April 2019. He arrived at the CBF prestigious for having been the best referee of the Brazilian Championship in the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons.

The Gaucho spent fifteen years on the organization’s board of referees and represented Brazil in international competitions for four seasons, when he wore the FIFA insignia.

“The CBF thanks Leonardo Gaciba for his commitment and for the haughty and tireless way in which he exercised the Presidency of the CBF Arbitration Commission”, says an excerpt of the note.

“The current Vice-President of the Arbitration Commission, Alicio Pena Júnior, will assume the role interim, until the conclusion of the competitions of the 2021 season, to whom the President Ednaldo Rodrigues congratulates, wishing him success in the position and putting the organization’s structure at his disposal of the Arbitration Commission for the constant improvement and development of national arbitration”, completes the statement.