Best Ligue 2 referee in 2021, then demoted to National at the end of last season, Bartolomeu Varela was excluded from refereeing. The information went completely unnoticed. On 27 October 2022, the minutes of the Federal Committee of Referees (CFA) mentioned the “removal of Mr. V.” from refereeing with immediate effect. According to information received from a member of this committee, Mr. V. is Bartolomeu Varela.
On 7 October 2022, the former best referee in Ligue 2 in 2021 was heard by the CFA for having submitted proof of air travel that he never made. “Considering therefore that all of the electronic tickets that Mr. V. submitted to the FFF to justify his travels between […] and […] over the X seasons are tickets that he had actually canceled and then submitted them with the aim that they reimburse him, even though he had not made these trips", indicates the committee. "Considering that Mr. V. therefore produced false proof of travel to the Financial Department of the FFF for the sole purpose of collecting undue sums (…) Considering that in an attempt to justify these trips, Mr. V. produced new documents not conclusive to the Committee here, as confirmed by the company Air France", Bartolomeu Varela was therefore removed from French refereeing with immediate effect “in application of article 39 of the Statute of Referees”. The CFA also decided to "transfer the file to the Legal Department of the FFF". On 11 January 2023, he tried to defend himself before the FFF's appeal committee by invoking good faith. Varela explained that, as a business manager, he never knew for sure how he was going to travel, but he had to decide last-minute. He made these trips between Brest and Paris by car “but forgot to declare these changes to the DTA“, adding that” these administrative irregularities did not benefit him “. Bartolomeu Varela assured that he was not dishonest and feels sorry to end his career like this". The Appeal Committee asked him to "transmit, as soon as possible, any evidence justifying the expenses that he claims to have incurred in the context of his travels, in particular all the useful supporting documents relating to the use of the car" to know if it was indeed an administrative deficiency. (Source: Foot Amateur)
Appointed federal referee in 2001, Bartolomeu Varela refereed matches in CFA2, the current National 3 and nine years later arrived in the elite of French football by being the referee of Avignon-Lens in Ligue 1. To climb to the highest level, the Portuguese-born referee was able to count on the support of the refereeing department at the time, under the responsibility of Marc Batta. Bartolomeu Varela was part of Ligue 1 for 7 seasons. If his refereeing decisions have often been the subject of controversy, it is above all his relationship with the players and coaches that was singled out. During his first season in Ligue 1, Bartolomeu Varela very quickly became the number 1 enemy of the coaches, many of whom he invited to go to the stands. During a Lens-Sochaux match in February 2011, Laszlo Bölöni disputed a free kick which brought Sochaux's third goal (2- 3). The fiery Romanian coach, who was expelled along with his deputy Georges Tournay, said that "arrogance prevented Varela from seeing clearly" and that the referee told him: "I made a mistake, but I’m crazy”, words that Varela disputed. A few months later, Varela was given an important match for the French Ligue 1 championship between Nice and PSG. The capital club was then coached by Carlo Ancelotti. On the Parisian bench, the exasperation with Varela's performance was at its peak. The Italian coach was called to order by the referee who decided to send Claude Makelele to the stands after addressing the former tricolor international by saying to him: "sit sit". A few weeks after this episode, Bartolomeu Varela was rewarded by being appointed as Herve Piccirillo's fourth official in the French Cup final between Lyon and Quevilly.
At the end of the match between Bastia and Evian Thonon Gaillard in 2014, the Bastiais François Modesto accuses Varela of having told him "shut up!". The Corsican defender will explain that in his 19-year career, a referee has never made such comments to him. Pascal Garibian, then Technical Director of Refereeing came to Varela's aid by "formally refuting these accusations". Patrice Garande was not happy either with Bartolomeu Varela who expelled him twice. A first time during a Caen-St. Etienne in February 2015 where the Caen coach will go so far as to qualify Varela "the biggest truffle of French refereeing". During a Monaco-Caen on 21 December 2016, Varela was abused by Radamel Falcao, author of a crude simulation which allowed him to obtain a penalty. Garande will still be expelled, along with two of his assistants, Jean-Marie Huriez and Jean-Marc Branger, a few months earlier during a match between Caen and Reims. Laurent Battles was also disillusioned with this referee when he was the coach of Troyes between 2019 and 2021. The current coach of the Greens had challenged the expulsion of Florian Tardieu during a match against Paris FC in April 2021. "I said he didn't do anything. I just repeated that two or three times and I asked the fourth official, but he replied that he could not speak on behalf of Mr. Varela", explained the coach on the Score.fr site. Olivier Guégan, then coach of Valenciennes will also bear the brunt of Bartolomeu Varela's zeal during a match between Valenciennes and Niort in 2019. The list is long. Bartolomeu Varela refereed nearly 150 Ligue 1 matches during his seven years in the top flight. In 2017, he was relegated to Ligue 2, where his referee colleagues and assistants had elected him as the best referee in Ligue 2 at the end of the 2020/2021 season. The last match refereed by Bartolomeu Varela was on 13 May 2022 between Chambly and Boulogne sur Mer in National 2. He had not been appointed since to any match by the Technical Direction of Refereeing. (Source: Lionel Schneider/Arbitrage57)
