The Paulista Football Federation (FPF) has chosen to temporarily remove three clubs: Paulista, Olímpia and Barretos from any state tournaments due to the investigation into the alleged manipulation of results in the Paulista Serie A games.
The measure is valid until the trial is held by the TJD (Court of Sports Justice), which has not yet set a date. In addition to the teams, eight players were also included in the preventive leave: one from Paulista, two from Olímpia and five from Barretos.
The action was based on the images of the matches and the reports produced by the company SportRadar, a partner of FPF and responsible for analyzing the standards of the betting markets. Despite this, teams and athletes can still appeal the decision.
Two matches of the competition are under investigation due to suspicion of manipulation, being the victory of Linense by 4 to 0 over Barretos and the triumph of Olimpia by 3 to 2 against Paulista. Both games were for the 12th round of the competition, but Linense is not being seen as a suspect in the case.
The penalty for football teams does not compromise participation in the last round of Paulistão, scheduled for this weekend. However, the players involved will not be able to enter the field.
Civil Police are investigating allegations of manipulation of results
The whole situation is being investigated by the Civil Police. Recently, businessman William Pereira Rogatto gave testimony and his cell phone was withheld by the authorities due to the suspicion of enticing players to manipulate the games.
Rogatto was appointed by an athlete from Paulista, to whom he would have made an offer of around 5,000 reais to help defraud the result of the confrontation against Desportivo Brasil, in the 13th round.
The player, in turn, handed over all the material to the police and made a police report. When contacted by TV Globo, the teams denied any involvement in the case.
Sports betting has been in the process of regulation in the country since the end of 2018. The existence of an adequate regulation for the sector would provide the opportunity to create efficient methods of inspection and would prevent this type of situation. However, the “bets” theme continues in a context full of uncertainties on the national scene.
