Rafael Rodrigo Klein will referee Palmeiras x São Paulo on Saturday, October 12, at 18:30 ET in the 27th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro. The match will be played at Nubank Parque, and the appointment puts the 36-year-old official back in the spotlight for one of the league’s most watched fixtures.
The search around Palmeiras vs São Paulo is not just about the teams. It is also about the man in the middle, who became a FIFA-listed referee in 2024 after first entering the trade through amateur matches in Santa Maria, where he accepted an invitation to work a competition that helped raise money for his graduation. Klein later built his career step by step: he joined the Comissão Estadual de Árbitros de Futebol in 2012 after a course offered by the FGF, began working official matches two years later, received the CBF badge in 2021 and debuted in Série A in 2022 in Athletico-PR versus Fortaleza.
By 2023, Klein had become a familiar name in national refereeing, with 36 official CBF appointments and 23 matches in the Brasileirão Série A. He was also elected the best referee of the Campeonato Gaúcho that year. His path has mixed the whistle with education: he is licensed in Educação Física by UFSM, completed a specialization in Educação Física Escolar there and is now studying for a bachelor's degree in Educação Física at UFRGS. Before professional refereeing, he taught in a futsal school and worked with students in the final years of elementary school, and he also coordinated the Sports Department of Poço das Antas.
That background sits beside a more difficult recent record. Klein’s work in Flamengo versus Fluminense in the Campeonato Brasileiro de 2024 drew controversy over a penalty awarded to Flamengo after Bruno Henrique fell in the area in a play with Calegari, and analysts later judged that Bruno Henrique may have committed a foul before the contact. His performance in São Paulo versus Corinthians in September 2024 was also criticized for his criteria in giving cards, and he was questioned for including records about homophobic chants in the match report. Abel Ferreira had his suspension increased by the STJD in the aftermath of that classic.
So Saturday’s assignment is more than routine scheduling. Klein arrives at Palmeiras x São Paulo with a fast climb to FIFA level and the sort of recent scrutiny that makes every call matter twice. For Palmeiras and São Paulo, the next chapter begins when he walks onto the field at Nubank Parque, where his decisions will be judged not only by the result, but by whether the controversies around him stay in the past.
