In a football world increasingly mechanized, where tactics are beginning to overshadow individual talent, Brazil continues to resist this new trend and keeps producing great dribblers in large numbers. However, the intentions of the Brazilian Football Confederation seem to want to head in another direction by imposing rules against their top dribblers, which directly threaten the ‘Jogo Bonito.’

The CBF bans Depay's dribbling

The trigger for this decision was an action that took place during the final of the Campeonato Paulista between Corinthians and Palmeiras, with Memphis Depay as the main protagonist. With a 1-0 lead for Corinthians, the former player of PSV, Manchester United, Lyon, Barcelona, or Atlético de Madrid, stood on the ball as he was about to dribble a Palmeiras player.

In many countries, this gesture would have been seen as a provocation… and it was no different in Brazil, where a big fight broke out between members of both teams over the technical action that Depay executed. In response to these events, the CBF decided to react by punishing any player who stands on the ball during matches in the Brasileirao with a yellow card.

The protests of Depay and Neymar against the CBF

This decision, logically, didn’t sit well with Memphis Depay, and he expressed this on his social media: “I went to Brazil to experience the Jogo Bonito first-hand, but now the CBF announced yesterday that no player can stand on the ball or they will receive a yellow card. This was decided after I stood on the ball for a few seconds in the last final of the Copa Paulista.”

The protests voiced by Depay were quickly joined by another excellent dribbler, Neymar, with whom he shared three years in Ligue 1 between 2017 and 2021, where they were undoubtedly two of the best dribblers in the French league. “Football is becoming more and more boring,” said the number ‘10’ of Santos while continuing his recovery from his most recent injury before reappearing with Santos.