The Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories (MPDFT) launched, this Monday (11), Operation End Game. The operation aims to uncover possible cases of manipulation of results in Candangão (State Football Championship).
The action, led by the Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (GAECO) focused on investigating the conduct of two Santa Maria players. Ending the competition in last position and thus being relegated.
Right-back Nathan Henrique Gama da Silva and defender Alexandre Batista Damasceno are the targets of the operation.
According to investigations, the two athletes would have acted deliberately to influence the outcome of two Santa Maria matches in Candangão.
The matches under suspicion are the significant defeats suffered by Águia in the 4th round, 6-0 against Ceilândia, and in the 6th round, where they lost 5-0 to Gama. In these clashes, the players acted as starters.
Possible accusations of match-fixing
Players may face charges of passive sports corruption, fraud at a sporting event, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
The promoters found that the performance of the two athletes had a direct impact on the results of the matches, committing penalties, own goals or omitting to mark their opponents.
Furthermore, the investigation revealed that a group of bettors made predictions on online betting sites, already aware of the results of the clashes.
GAECO/MPDFT obtained evidence indicating that the bets predicted Santa Maria’s significant defeats, as they actually occurred.
Although investigations to date have not mentioned this, it is relevant to note that Nathan and Alexandre were also starters in the last round of Candangão, where Santa Maria was defeated 7-1 by Capital.
What Santa Maria says
The football club issued an official statement about the case.
“Sociedade Esportiva Santa Maria is closely monitoring the situation of the investigations and providing all necessary support to better clarify these accusations. We repudiate any type of manipulation that spoils the good of football.”
