Thousands of dollars to concede a penalty or take a yellow card: the scourge of match-fixing also plagues Brazil, a country where football is king and where online betting is booming.
The alarm bell was sounded last week by the state prosecutor’s office in Goias (center), which has suspicions about six first division matches played in September and November 2022. They would have been rigged to ensure a criminal network “juicy profits” on betting sites.
“We do not rule out that other matches could have been fixed,” said Fernando Cesconetto, prosecutor in charge of the investigation, at a press conference. This could only be “the tip of the iceberg”, added Rodney Silva, another prosecutor.
“Brazil is an extremely vulnerable country when it comes to match-fixing,” Udo Seckelmann, sports betting expert at law firm Bichara e Motta, told AFP.
According to him, one of the reasons for this vulnerability is the large number of professional matches played in this huge country crazy about football, with four national divisions and regional championships disputed at the start of the year.
In this context, it is difficult to monitor all the matches, while sports betting sites have become essential: they sponsor 19 of the 20 clubs in the Brazilian first division. Online betting is allowed in Brazil, but its regulations are still unclear.
“Global Epidemic”
Another determining factor: if the stars earn fortunes, the salaries of the vast majority of professional footballers playing in Brazil are far from staggering, which makes them “more likely” to be corrupt.
“Brazil is still learning to deal with this problem”, and is still groping to “implement controls, do prevention and impose sanctions”, summarizes Mr. Seckelmann.
Controls have still been strengthened this year, and Congress on Wednesday set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry to look into the subject.
“External interference in the results is a global epidemic that must be punished urgently and exemplarily,” recently claimed the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which organizes national competitions.
In 2022, 776 encounters aroused suspicion around the world, 11% more than in 2021, according to the Sportradar agency, responsible for monitoring for the CBF and Fifa.
Nearly a fifth of these meetings took place in Brazil (139), an increase of 56% in one year, according to the daily O Globo.
“Mafia you whistle”
The suspicions took a legal turn in November, when Vila Nova, a second division club, denounced to the prosecution the alleged fixing of three matches on the last day of its championship.
Searches were carried out and charges brought against eight footballers and six punters in February.
Following another police operation, on April 18, investigators identified “signs” of rigging for six Premier League matches.
At least five players from four elite teams, including Santos, Pelé’s legendary club, are suspected of having been “co-opted” by a criminal organization.
In exchange for sums ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 dollars, they had to, for example, receive yellow cards on purpose, concede penalties or cause a certain number of corners.
The identities of the players targeted, who face six years in prison for corruption, have not been revealed, apart from that of Santos defender Eduardo Bauermann, who denies any involvement.
Other match-fixing scandals have marred football in the five-time world champion country in the past.
One of the most emblematic episodes is that of the “Whistle Mafia”, in 2005, when corrupt referees rigged 11 league matches for the benefit of punters.
2023-04-29 12:25:16
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