The Fourth Disciplinary Committee of the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) of Football confirmed the punishment of the members of Patrocinense. According to the sentence, the accused were penalized for a match-fixing scheme in the match against Inter de Limeira, for the Série D of the 2024 Brasileirão.
In total, seven defendants were punished for manipulation. They are: athletes Richard Bala, Felipe Gama and Dener; the team’s coach at the time, Estevam Soares and his assistant Rodolfo “Dodô”; as well as director Anderson Ibrahin Rocha and investor Conceição.
Unanimous decision of the auditors
According to the STJD, the decision, taken unanimously by the auditors of the Fourth Commission, applies to the director Anderson Ibrahin Rocha and the investor Conceição the penalty of elimination, in addition to a fine of R$50 thousand and R$25 thousand, respectively. Identified as responsible for the representation of the athletes in the manipulation scheme.
In view of this, all were reported under article 243, paragraph 1 of the CBJD, for manipulating the result and harming their team, the athlete Richard Bala received a fine of R$25 thousand and a suspension for 720 days.
In turn, Felipe Gama received a fine of R$20,000 and a suspension of 549 days. The fine for the athlete Dener is R$2,500 for violating article 66, section VI, of the RGC and article 191, section III, of the CBJD for being aware of the scheme and not reporting it to the club or federation.
Therefore, the punishment also extends to the members of the committee at the time. That is, coach Estevam Soares and assistant Rodolfo Dodô for not reporting the match-fixing scheme. Thus, Estevam was fined R$20,000 and Dodô R$10,000. Both for violating article 66, section VI, of the RGC and 191, section III, of the CBJD.
What led the rapporteur to the decision:
According to the understanding of the rapporteur Gustavo Favero Vaughn, all the elements were taken into consideration, namely: complaint, police investigation and Sports Justice, and, therefore, there is “comfortable evidence” that there was, in fact, manipulation of the match.
Furthermore, there is also confirmation of the disciplinary infraction committed by the accused. When determining the penalties, auditor Gustavo Favero highlighted the extreme seriousness of the infraction and the mitigating circumstances of the accused.
“I would like to point out from the outset that there is only one mitigating circumstance. Namely, the first-time offenders in the sports court, as the registration forms attached to the case file suggest (CBJD, art. 180, IV); on the other hand, we are faced with the practice of manipulation, an irregularity with enormous potential for harm and, therefore, of extreme gravity.
Penalties for those accused of match-fixing in Série D:
- Fine of R$25,000 and 720 days of suspension for athlete Richard Bala in article 243, paragraph 1, of the CBJD;
- Fine of R$20,000 and 540 days of suspension for athlete Felipe Gama in article 243, paragraph 1, of the CBJD;
- Fine of R$2,500 to athlete Dener José in article 191, paragraph III, of the CBJD and article 66 of the RGC;
- Fine of R$20,000 to coach Estevam Soares for violating article 191, section III of the CBJD and section VI of article 66 of the RGC;
- Fine of R$10,000 to Rodolfo Dodô, technical assistant also in article 191, paragraph III, of the CBJD with paragraph VI of article 66 of the RGC;
- Fine of R$50,000, R$25,000 for each conduct, and elimination of Anderson Ibrahin Rocha, former director under article 242 of the CBJD;
- Fine of R$25 thousand and elimination in article 242 of the CBJD to Conceição, investor.
Still according to the decision of rapporteur Gustavo Favero Vaughn: “Finally, I accept the request of the Prosecutor’s Office to extend the effects of this decision beyond Brazilian territory, reaching internationally, based on art. 70.1 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code”.
Auditors Caio Barros, Gabriel Fonseca, Juliana Camões and president Salvio Dino followed the vote in full.
