“Intercepted Conversations Show Fernando Neto Admitting to Trying to Get Red Card for $500,000 in Brazilian Championship Match-Fixing Scandal”

Conversations intercepted by the Public Ministry show defensive midfielder Fernando Neto admitting that he tried to get a red card in exchange for R$500,000. The conversation forms part of a series of documents to which the UOL had access to the Brazilian Championship match-fixing scandal.

What did he say

The referee in the middle of the game came up to me and asked if I wanted to be expelled, so you can have an idea. On the way back from the break he said the same thing and asked what was going on […] look at the fouls I made, all I needed was for me to attack the referee for something to happen.”
Fernando Neto, midfielder who was at Operário (PR)

Related

What happened

• Whatsapp prints obtained by the Goiás Public Ministry exposed the conversations between Fernando Neto and a group accused of commanding fraud in Brazilian Championship games. Fernando was named as one of eight players who agreed to take cards so that scammers could make profits on betting sites. The sites remunerate bettors who match match statistics, such as the number of cards. In return, the players received a share of the money raised by the group.
• On October 27, 2022, Fernando was approached by a man named Bruno Lopez, known as BL, who offered R$500,000 for him to receive a red card the next day, in the Sport x Operário match in Série B. According to the investigation , Fernando accepted the deal, but was unable to take the red, which caused damage to the criminal organization.
• Questioned by Bruno, the player defended himself saying that he did everything to be expelled, but the referee Caio Max Augusto Vieira only gave a yellow card.
• When contacted, Fernando’s defense lawyer said that the player is innocent and that he was the victim of blackmail. According to Auro Jayme, the steering wheel pretended to agree with the scammers’ offer, but did not execute what was asked of him and returned the money received. See defense note below.

See the dialogs

In October 2022, Bruno Lopez (BL) and Thiago Chambó, appointed as operators of the scheme, confirm that they have Fernando Neto’s endorsement for the fraud.

BL: Athlete: Fernando Neto – Shirt number 8. Club: Operário. Operation: First Half Expulsion. Game: Tomorrow, Friday, 28/10 – 19:00.

Cambodia: It’s all right then, right?

BL: Will send me the pix; I’ll find out with Edersinho. 300%. Direct with the player. Only you and Icarus know. Master secrecy.

Cambodia: Up. I got it.

BL: That hair will make me rich. In the name of Jesus.

Then BL negotiates the amount with Fernando.

BL: You can already see your price there. 300/400/500 thousand.

Fernando: Do you reach 500?

BL: I come, brother. Then you strengthen Matheus [goleiro apontado como intermediário do negócio]. It was already 40… Then it would be 460. Then you agree, how much is left for each…

Fernando: He was talking about 500. Is that right?

BL: That. 500, wow. It was already 40. Then there would be 460 missing.

Fernando: Let me see this bro. He will talk to you.

In the next day’s game, Sport beat Operário by 5-1, but Fernando only took a yellow card. On the same day, at 22:07 he receives a message from BL.

BL: Are you on and won’t answer?

Fernando: I’m here on the bus. One minute. Bro, if you saw the game, you saw that I did everything, if you could hear what I said to him after the fouls I did, foul without the ball, foul outside the shot, at the beginning of the game I already fouled on the edge of the area and nothing, I called him blind, I called him a motherfucker, I told him to fuck off and take it up his ass when I got yellowed, I’m not telling stories, I tried, because you said you’d already had the operation, the referee in the middle of the game he came up to me and asked if I wanted to be sent off so you could have an idea, on the way back from the break he said the same thing and asked what was going on, Matheus saw the game too, look at the fouls I made, just I had to attack the referee for something to happen.

You might think I’m paying lip service, but I tried anyway and that son of a bitch didn’t kick me out, there’s no logic to what he did, just to give you an idea, everyone on the field was outraged

Fernando tries to convince BL that he wasn’t at fault, and BL claims that he would have to bear the group’s losses.

Fernando: When I took the card, I cursed him. The guy didn’t want to kick me out. It even seemed like he didn’t want to kick me out for nothing.

BL: It’s good, bro. We are not here to argue. If he tried or not, if he cursed or not, if he didn’t want to kick him out or not. We are here to summarize the damage, just as I had my word, if everything works out, you would have 500 thousand… Now unfortunately, after we have the accounts, you will have to bear the damage.

In the Sport 5 x 1 Operário summary, the referee Caio Max Augusto Vieira noted that he gave Fernando Neto a yellow card at 41 minutes of the 1st half for: “recklessly tripping or trying to trip an opponent in the dispute for the ball. “

Volante tried to entice Santos player

On November 7, a week and a half later, Fernando sought out defender Eduardo Bauermann, from Santos, and tried to convince him to participate in the fraud. The messages were found by the MP on the defender’s cell phone.

Fernando: I know you’re already rich lol but I’ll get straight to the point. You want to win a pet in the next game, don’t you? Just need to take a yellow in the first half. Easier than that time.

Bauermann: Lol how much does the guy pay?

Fernando: He’s paying 60 bro. I did it against Sport, I sat the boot on Juba [o lateral Luciano Juba]. There are two more games, right? How many cards do you have?

Bauermann: I’m reset lol I just came back from suspension.

Fernando: What a beauty, I went to find this now in the last game. Oh rage. If you take it, bro, I can talk to the guy from both games. The guy is solid.

Bauermann: Brother, really, thank you very much for the offer, but I’m going to have to refuse, I told myself that I wasn’t going to get involved in those things anymore, last year I went to do that and even fought in the game I fought and the referee didn’t give me a card, He actually gave the card to the wrong guy, then it got even worse for not being able to do it, so this time I’ll owe you brother.

The Santos defender turned down Fernando’s offer, but had already agreed directly with the group of punters, which earned him threats.

Justice accepts complaint against athletes

• Yesterday the Justice of Goiás accepted the complaint against 16 people, including 8 players who would be involved in the case. So they became defendants and have ten days to defend themselves.
• Fernando Neto was denounced in article 41-C of the Fan Statute, which says it is a crime to “request or accept, for oneself or for others, an advantage or promise of a pecuniary or non-pecuniary advantage for any act or omission aimed at altering or distorting the result of sports competition.” The penalty ranges from two to six years in prison, in addition to a fine.
• The process runs in Goiás because, although it involves games in various parts of Brazil, it started from complaints involving teams from Goiás. Bruno Lopez, Thiago Chambó and Romário dos Santos, identified as operators of the scheme, are under preventive detention.

What the quotes say

• Auro Jayme, Fernando’s lawyer, said that his client is innocent and that he was the victim of blackmail. “Fernando Neto’s defense reiterates his innocence, as done before the GAECO/MPGO. After numerous blackmail suffered by certain agents, who sought him out, he pretended to agree to the illicit proposals received. Not executing them during the game, as well as, refunding the amounts transferred to your bank account in their entirety, for these accused, now denounced for the crime of Criminal Organization”, wrote the lawyer.
• The player’s defense also said that conversations need to be analyzed in full context. “Excerpts from the WhatsApp application conversations between Fernando Neto and these other accused, disclosed here, need to be extracted and presented by the accusing body in their entirety, to reveal the entire context. with presumptions.”
• Operário (PR) said he will not comment on the matter.
• In a note, São Bernardo, Fernando’s current team, stated that it is waiting for more information about the midfielder’s participation. “Right now, what we have is information published in the press and, of course, we have an obligation to understand what actually happened and if it did, our legal team will be aware of it and wait for everything to be verified”, said football executive Lucas Andrino.
• Defender Bauermann’s defense was not found. Santos informed in a note that it does not tolerate ethical deviations and that the player was removed from training. “The player will remain doing physical activities at CT Rei Pelé. The Club will wait for the Justice to accept the complaint to define new actions, always with the thought aimed at preserving the institution.”