Foul play: how the bribery scheme that shakes soccer in Brazil worked

brazilian soccer is at the center of the scandal because more than a dozen players are under suspicion of having rigged games in favor of gamblers. The alleged case of corruption came to light last November when the president of Vila Nova de Goiás, Hugo Jorge Bravo, declared that three second division matches, in which his club participates, had been rigged.

Bravo found out through one of his players, the 20-year-old midfielder Romário, who breached the agreement with the bettors: commit a penalty in el match against Sport Recifein the last day of Brasileirao B, in exchange for a sum equivalent to about $30,000 at current exchange rates, according to AFP.

The player received an advance of about $2,000, but was not called up for the game, so they put pressure on the midfielder who He was fired at the end of November and denounced in courtto compensate them for economic damage.

Prosecutors believe at least 15 matches were fixed, eight of them from last year’s top division. The others were from the 2022 second category and from the 2023 state championships.

Until now 25 people were denounced: 15 soccer players, one from the first division, the Santos defender Eduardo Bauermann, and ten bettors or financiers, three of whom are in custody. For attorney Rodney da Silva, until now only “the tip of the iceberg” has been discovered.

An Argentine player was denounced for bribery in Brazilian soccer

After the investigation, six first division athletes were separated from their teams for appearing in the conversations of bettors found by prosecutors and revealed by local media.

In addition, the Brazilian winger Pedrinho and the Ecuadorian midfielder Bryan García, were fired on Friday by Athletico Paranaense. And the Brazilian Max Alves, from Colorado Rapids (USA), was suspended.

Those involved, some of whom accept charges and negotiate with the courts, can pay up to six years in prison.

How the manipulations of players and parties took place

Players were approached through social networks by bettors or intermediaries who played on online sites. They gave him between 10,000 and 100,000 dollars to get reprimands, to force corner kicks, to provoke penalties, among other plays.

“He has to ensure us the yellow card before the end of the first half, only that,” says a supposed bettor to the Argentinian defender Kevin Lomonaco (Red Bull Bragantino), 21, according to a message revealed by the Globo Esporte portal.

“He told me that I was going to earn a lot of money quickly (…) I did it without knowing that it was a crime“, recognized the defense, which reached an agreement with the authorities, in statements published by UOL on Saturday.

Gamblers aimed to earn $400,000 per weekend, according to audio released by the G1 site, and used robots or accounts registered in the name of third parties at bookmakers to increase revenue.

Investigation of bribes

The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, asked the Federal Police on Wednesday to investigate the case and Congress, in turn, created two commissions to investigate the manipulations, one of which should be chaired by senator and former striker Romário, champion of the world in 1994.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said Wednesday that it will not suspend the Brasileirao and that it is working with “FIFA and other international spheres to establish a standard investigation model.”

“I am in favor of preventive suspension (of players) based on specific suspicions and even expulsion from the sport in proven cases. Whoever commits crimes should not be part of football”, said the president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues.

This is not the first time something like this has happened, in 2005, the scandal of the “Apito Mafia“(Whistle Mafia), had involved two referees who allied with gamblers to rig results in the Brasileirao.

rb/ds