According to promoter Manoel Figueiredo Antunes, the athlete requested or agreed to receive amounts to force yellow cards in two Brasileirão matches
Striker Ênio was charged by the Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul (MP-RS) for fraud, manipulation of sports competitions and money laundering. The Juventude player, on loan to Chapecoense, is being investigated for suspicion in Brasileirão 2025 matches, when he was still with the Rio Grande do Sul team.
Juventude will not speak out. The athlete’s defense emphasizes the presumption of innocence and says that the disclosure of information about a process that is being carried out in secret “anticipates non-existent conclusions and causes significant damage to the athlete’s image, career and personal life”. When contacted, Chapecoense did not respond.
The complaint, signed by prosecutor Manoel Figueiredo Antunes, was presented on January 30th to the Criminal Court of the District of Caxias do Sul and points out the athlete’s role in manipulating bets. The scheme would involve Brasileirão games in 2025. The document also points out the concealment of amounts in excess of R$1.9 million, obtained illicitly.
According to promoter Manoel Figueiredo Antunes, the athlete requested or agreed to receive amounts to force yellow cards in two Brasileirão matches. The games in question are Juventude’s triumph over Vitória (2-0), on March 29, 2025, valid for the first round; and the 5-0 defeat suffered by Fortaleza, on May 10, 2025, in the eighth round.
Ênio received a yellow card on both occasions. The investigation found that, before the games, there was an abnormal increase in bets in the “player card” modality, indicating that bettors already had prior knowledge of the outcome of the bid.
In April 2025, even before the second game investigated, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) informed Juventude about an alert of match manipulation involving the attacker. The yellow card received by the player in the first round of the Brasileirão generated suspicion in bookmakers. The entity had been notified through a report from Ibia (International Association for Integrity in Sports Betting)
Also according to the MP-RS, Ênio would have received amounts from companies linked to the exploitation of sports betting, which “were later hidden and concealed through bank transactions incompatible with his declared legal income”. The evidence was also shared with the Federal Police to investigate possible crimes of an interstate nature.
On May 20, 2025, the MP-RS launched Operation Totonero, in which it carried out two search warrants at Ênio’s house and at the Alfredo Jaconi Stadium, in Caxias do Sul (RS). The operation was based on notifications from Ibia and CBF.
Even before the operation, Ênio spoke out about the issue, on April 9, 2025. Through his social networks, the athlete declared himself innocent and justified the moves that were under suspicion.
“Since the beginning of my career in football, around ten years ago, I have always behaved absolutely correctly. In my personal life, I have never been involved with any individual, group of people or anything for that matter, that aimed at anything illicit, immoral or discreditable”, wrote the athlete.
“I suffered a clear foul, where the Vitória player unbalanced me, first with his right leg and then with his left leg. I tried to continue the play, but I couldn’t, as I was already unbalanced”, explained the attacker. “When I questioned the referee about the unmarked foul, I received a yellow card,” he added.
After the second case, Juventude said it would adopt “the appropriate measures”. However, Ênio played in the following game against Fortaleza, against Grêmio. In the remainder of the season, he was on the field 18 more times. The club from Rio Grande do Sul was relegated to Series B, in 19th place.
The Second Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) determined that causing cards to favor sports betting does not qualify as game manipulation. The understanding is that the action has no real potential to change the result or match.
The understanding came in December last year, following the vote of Gilmar Mendes in analyzing a regulatory appeal by Igor Cariús, denounced for forcing cards in exchange for money to encourage betting. The minister argued that the conduct does not constitute a crime, even though the facts could eventually lead to punishment in the sporting sphere.
The crime of “requesting or accepting an advantage to alter or falsify the result of a sporting competition” is typified in article 198 of the General Sports Law. The expected penalty is imprisonment for two to six years and a fine.
“Our discussion focused on the atypicality of the conduct attributed to the athlete in light of the criminal legal analysis of the case, since article 198 of the General Sports Law only incriminates undue advantage pacts intended to alter or falsify the result of the sporting competition”, said Ênio’s defense, in a note.
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