The Public Ministry of Goiás is investigating the case that could become the biggest match-fixing scheme in Brazilian football. According to Veja’s article, 14 people are being accused of participating in the scheme that already involves games in the first division of the Brazilian Championship. Clubs and bookmakers are treated as victims.
Veja published excerpts from conversations held by the MP-GO, which indicate how the system worked. Operation Maximum Penalty started when the president of Vila Nova (GO), Hugo Jorge Bravo, discovered that one of his players, Marcos Vinicius Alves Barreira, Romário, was involved in match fixing.
He would have gone into debt with a gang after requesting a postponement of R$ 10,000 to pass on to a teammate. The amount was forwarded, however, the promise of a penalty did not happen and the group stopped earning half a million. The gang, led by Bruno Lopez de Moura, the BL, was unable to meet other commitments.
In the previous phase of the operation, some players were targets of a search and seizure operation: defenders Victor Ramos (Chapecoense), Kevin Lomónaco (Bragantino), Paulo Miranda (Juventude), and Eduardo Bauermann (Santos), left-backs Igor Cariús (Sport), and Moraes, (ex-Juventude) and now in Atlético-GO, and midfielder Gabriel Tota, ex-Juventude and currently in Ypiranga-RS.
According to GE, the names of defensive midfielders Fernando Neto, formerly of Operário-PR and currently at São Bernardo, and Nikolas, from Novo Hamburgo-RS, and striker Jarro Pedroso, from Inter-SM, have now been added.
Match-fixing in football has reached the Brazilian elite
As the investigations progressed, the MP understood that the situation was not limited to football in Goiás. Even with the verification, the gang continued with the manipulation of results in football this year and reached State Championship matches in São Paulo, Paraíba, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul.
Of the six 2022 Série A games under suspicion, four have already had irregularities confirmed, according to investigators: Santos x Avaí, Santos x Botafogo, Palmeiras x Juventude and Goiás x Juventude. The investigated athletes are defenders Paulo Miranda (Youth) and Eduardo Bauermann (Santos) and midfielder Gabriel Tota (Youth). They deny participation in the scheme.
The gang began operating last year and had intermediaries, gamblers, administrative staff and financiers. Everything was handled via chat apps. After the intermediaries made the first contacts and agreed on the amounts, the financiers made the down payment available.
“Bruno said that a player from Novo Hamburgo (RS) asked for 15 000 reais in advance to commit a penalty. He sent 6 000 reais, I sent 6 000 and Ícaro (another investigated) sent the rest. In another case, I sent 7 500 reais to a Vila Nova player”, said one of those investigated, Zildo Peixoto Neto.
The MP operation in Goiás is the largest, but it is not the only one. In São Paulo, for example, the police are investigating at least 18 cases of fraud involving games for the Brasileiro Feminino and smaller divisions of the Paulista Federation. As a result, the National Congress installed the CPI of Sports Betting, whose purpose is to gather the greatest possible number of investigations.
The sector, which moved approximately BRL 2 billion in 2018, should reach BRL 20 billion this year. The government estimates that around a thousand platforms are in operation in Brazil and is preparing a provisional measure to regulate the activity, something that will help curb match-fixing in football and severely punish those involved.
The sports betting MP, prepared by the Ministry of Finance, is in the Civil House and should be published soon. The sector was legalized in December 2018 during the government of then President Michel Temer.
Santos announces removal of investigated player
Santos has just announced that Eduardo Bauermann is away from the club’s activities due to “new developments disclosed in Operation Maximum Penalty 2, by the Public Ministry of Goiás”.
“Santos Futebol Clube informs that the athlete Eduardo Bauermann has been informed that he is preventively away from training with the professional squad, starting this Tuesday (9), in view of the new developments disclosed in Operation Maximum Penalty 2, of the Public Ministry of Goiás .
The player will remain doing physical activities at CT Rei Pelé. The Club will wait for Justice to accept the complaint to define new actions, always with a view to preserving the institution. Santos FC does not tolerate deviations in conduct and ethics”.
