The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) observed a significant 70% reduction in reports of manipulation in football matches sent by betting monitoring company Sportradar.
This data refers to the period from January to August this year, compared to the same period the previous year. The information was provided by Eduardo Gussem, CBF integrity officer.
CBF did not receive alerts during the months of April and August
According to Gussem, the CBF did not receive any alerts from Sportradar during the months of April and August this year. This result indicates positive progress in the fight against match-fixing. The data emerged during a seminar on combating manipulation, held at the end of August.
Fundação Getúlio Vargas, FIFA and the Integrated Center for Sports Studies (Cies) organized the event together, reinforcing the commitment of these institutions to combat corruption in sport.
However, Eduardo Gussem considered how to publicize suspected cases of manipulation in national football. “Saying absolutely that Brazil, which is a country of continental dimensions and which has more than 130 competitions a year, is the champion of manipulations, without studying the phenomenon, is, to say the least, irresponsible”, he stressed.
According to Metropoles, Gussem claimed that this lack of context was one of the main reasons for the creation of two Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry (CPI) — one in the Chamber and the other in the Senate.
The CBF integrity officer stated that it is important to understand that Brazil is a country with a large territorial extension, with more than 130 competitions per year. This data, in isolation, does not reflect the complexity of the situation and can generate erroneous interpretations.
Data on manipulation cases
Sportradar reported that, among the more than 9 thousand games monitored in 118 championships, Brazil registered 109 suspected cases of manipulation.
Of this total, the majority of incidents — 94 matches — took place in state championships. Compared to the previous year, 2022, there was a significant reduction, with 44 fewer cases reported.
