The CPI for the Manipulation of Games and Sports Betting will meet next Tuesday (18). The agenda is full and also includes topics to combat fraud in the sector.
The highlight of the session will be the testimony of Felippe Marchetti, Integrity manager at Sportradar. The invitation was made by Senator Romário (PL-RJ), rapporteur of the commission.
Sportradar, Genius Sports and fraud detection
Sportradar, a Swiss company, is a world leader in data collection and analysis systems for detecting fraud in sports betting. Romário highlighted the importance of Marchetti’s testimony to clarify how the company’s technology works.
In other words, the senators want to know how football matches are monitored in Brazil and information is made available to customers.
To give you an idea of the importance of the company, Sportradar has contracts with the CBF and FIFA, monitoring several championships in Brazil. In addition, several bookmakers are also customers of the company.
According to a report released in March by Sportradar, Brazil leads the world ranking of fraud, with 109 suspicious matches out of a total of 9,000 analyzed.
Another speaker at the meeting will be Thiago Horta Barbosa, head of Integrity for Latin America at Genius Sports. Romário invited Barbosa, believing he can offer valuable insights into weaknesses in combating fraud in other countries.
Genius Sports, based in England, develops its own technology to detect fraud in sports matches. The company has contracts with several federations in Brazil and Latin America.
Invitation to player Lucas Paquetá
At the same meeting, the CPI will vote on several requests. Among them is the invitation to the player Lucas Paquetá, made by senators Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) and Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO).
The English Football Association reported Paquetá, a player for West Ham and the Brazilian national team, for betting misconduct. The accusation is that he forced yellow cards in four Premier League matches between November 2022 and August 2023.
Paquetá claims to be innocent of the charges and remains focused on the Brazilian team for the Copa América. In the midst of this, the president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, made important statements about the athlete’s situation before the friendly against the United States.
“In response to the questions that the CBF asked, the English Federation responded that it had no provision for punishment. In this way, the CBF understood that he could remain in the Brazilian team without any problems,” he stated.
Referee Testimonials
Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) also requested the testimonies of former FIFA referee Manoel Serapião Filho and the president of the National Association of Football Referees, Salmo Valentim.
But both Serapião Filho, creator of VAR in Brazil, and Valentim, are seen as important witnesses to discuss the CBF guidelines and the integrity of sporting competitions.
However, one of the most important points will be the vote on the request to break the banking, telephone and telematic confidentiality of former referee Glauber do Amaral Cunha.
Thus, Portinho attributes to Cunha the voice in an audio where a person complains about the non-payment of bribes after refereeing a penalty and fouls to influence the result of a game. John Textor, owner of Sociedade Anônima de Futebol (SAF) of Botafogo, presented the audio to the CPI.
