The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro began, this Monday (11), an operation against a possible scheme of manipulating results in football games in series B (Under-20) and C (Professional) of the 2024 Carioca Championship.
In total, ten search and seizure warrants were carried out in the state in the VAR operation, with the support of the São Paulo Civil Police, at addresses of suspected businessmen and directors of five clubs: Brasileirinho Clube Social, Duquecaxiense, Nova Cidade, São José and Sociedade Esportiva Belford Purple.
In a statement, Nova Cidade stated that it outsourced the under-20 team due to financial difficulties, but claims to have terminated the contract with the company after the suspicious game. In the match, the team won the first half 3-1, but suffered a comeback, losing 5-3 in the second half. Each bet of R$200 on the exact result of each half resulted in a profit of R$5,000.
Duquecaxiense, also in a statement, stated that it had never supported, practiced or condoned the facts that gave rise to the sanction of suspension applied by the Rio football federation. “We deeply regret that, during the course of the disciplinary process, the president of the club did not was heard, despite the patron’s repeated attempts to ensure this hearing”, says an excerpt from the note.
Sociedade Esportiva Belford Roxo published on its social networks that it is “absolutely opposed to any and all manipulation of results in sport”. He also says that there was an investigation in the sporting field, and that the club ended up acquitted. “Finally, Sociedade Esportiva Belford Roxo will never support, practice or condone fantasies that tarnish its history or that of football.”
When contacted, Brasileirinho Clube Social, São José and Sociedade Esportiva Belford Roxo did not respond.
Based on the items seized, Decon (Consumer Police Station) intends to advance the investigation to discover the scope of the criminal scheme of manipulating results in Rio de Janeiro football, identifying the names of the players, coaches and managers involved.
No one had been arrested until early afternoon. The Civil Police did not confirm which items were seized during the operation.
Decon agents carried out search and seizure warrants on Ilha de Gigóia, Barra da Tijuca, west of Rio.
The suspicion is that those under investigation have enticed managers and players from the aforementioned football clubs with the aim of rigging results and profiting from sports betting.
“Clubs accept proposals from these agents for them to manage their teams and then they [os dirigentes] can stop spending money on the maintenance of the under-20 and under-17 series B teams”, Wellington Vieira, head of Decon, told TV Globo.
Arrested this weekend by Interpol in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, businessman William Rogatto, 34, was one of the 11 targets of the investigation, but in São Paulo. Known as the “relegation king”, he claims to have manipulated the relegation of 42 clubs.
The search and seizure orders were issued by the Fans and Major Events Court. Investigated by the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) on the Manipulation of Games and Sports Betting in Brazil, in the Senate, Rogatto admitted to having accumulated around R$300 million in the fraudulent scheme of manipulating the results of national and international championships.
Following the new wave of suspicions of manipulation in Brazilian football, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) defended the ban on card betting on websites in the country, on the grounds that this modality facilitates fraud.
Last week, the Federal Police carried out an operation to investigate alleged manipulation in a Flamengo game, involving the player Bruno Henrique.
An international agency that monitors betting sites warned of suspicious movements in the game against Santos, in the 2023 Brazilian Championship.
On that occasion, a series of accounts were opened in Belo Horizonte on the eve of the match, with bets on the yellow card of the number 27. The attacker received the card in stoppage time, and was subsequently sent off for complaining.
Contacted by reporters at the time of the operation, Bruno Henrique’s advisors informed that they would not issue any statement.
