Combating match-fixing in Brazilian football is an urgent challenge. According to Paulo Schimitt, former STJD attorney and current president of the Integrity Committee of the São Paulo Football Federation, it is necessary to create a specialized body to deal with sports betting cases.
Specialized body for sports betting
Schimitt assesses that Brazil has made progress, albeit timidly, in the fight against match-fixing. He cites the “Mafia do Apito”, from 2005, as the initial step towards this evolution, and highlights the recent regulation of betting carried out by the Federal Government.
However, the former STJD attorney states that it is still necessary to implement practical actions to curb these schemes. “We need to deal with this problem from the point of view of protecting football”, he says.
Schimitt suggests the creation of an arbitration committee linked to the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), but independent. Thus, for him, the specialized nature of the topic requires a different treatment, as in the Olympic movement with the Committee for the Defense of Fair Play.
“It is a topic that deserves specialized bodies, because it is not possible for us to have cases identified or starting trial processes more than a year later”, reiterated Schimitt.
Role and responsibility of players in this scenario
The former STJD attorney makes a special demand on players, remembering that they and their families cannot bet on the games in which they participate. “It is necessary to protect the honest athlete. It is necessary to tell him clearly that from this type of bet he will only be very threatened, punished sportingly and criminally, and even killed, not only him but everyone around him”, he declared.
Schimitt regrets Brazil’s absence from the Macolin Convention, an important international treaty to combat the manipulation of sports competitions. According to him, the country needs to work on three major fronts: regulation, education and intelligence, investigation and accountability for cases.
Match-fixing in football is a serious problem that requires effective solutions. The creation of a specialized body, as suggested by Schimitt, could be a fundamental step to protect the integrity of sport and punish those involved in illegal sports betting.
