The operation Penalidade Máxima, by the Public Ministry of Goiás (MP-GO), revealed the existence of schemes to manipulate the results of football matches to favor bettors who had the participation of players from Series A and B of the Brazilian Championship. To understand a little more about this fraudulent scheme, Agência Brasil spoke with the postgraduate professor in Sports Law at PUC-PR Tiago Horta, who is a member of the Committee for the Defense of Fair Play of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB). During the interview, the specialist in sports integrity said that the Federal Government’s decision to regulate the sports betting market in the country is positive, but it is not enough. It is fundamental to establish, throughout the national territory, a strong integrity system. In addition, the researcher understands that the consequences of the scandals revealed through Operation Maximum Penalty are devastating and that, to alleviate the damage caused a little, the punishments must be exemplary, so that the football industry does not fall into disrepute. Agência Brasil: In December 2018, LAW No. 13,756 was published, which released the activities of sports betting sites in Brazil. From that date until today, how was the universe of sports betting in Brazil formed? Tiago Horta: Law 3,756 of 2018 emerged in the sense of trying to integrate Brazil into what was happening in the international context. Betting was already a reality in much of the world, including Brazil. It was a growing market, but until then it was kind of obscure. The criminal misdemeanor law itself already mentioned the issue of gambling, prohibiting sites of this nature from being hosted in Brazil. However, this legislation opened a loophole for these sites to operate from outside Brazil, the scenario that remains mostly to this day. The law legalizes the issue of sports fixed odds betting, but there is a lack of regulation. However, the previous Government was not interested in dealing with the issue and this reality ended up extending to the present day. The law brought some interesting situations. For example, in terms of sponsorships, it opened a kind of Pandora’s box. Before that, we had some rehearsals of some companies that tried to enter the sport, advertising on TV, with attempts to advertise on the sleeve of a club’s shirt, but all in a discreet way. It was not yet said that it was a betting site, they used another type of nomenclature. But, as of 2018, they felt free to do so, which has led to the fact that today, in Brazilian football, practically all the big clubs in Series A and B have some type of sponsorship from betting sites. Ads on TV stations are also very present. This was one of the main consequences of the lack of regulation. The lack of regulation has led to a lack of limits on the issue of sponsorships. What is the sponsorship limit in relation to the use of athletes? The market is currently looking for a kind of self-regulation, proposing that athletes under 25 are no longer used. The same happens with the possibility of athletes signing private partnerships with betting sites. There is no regulation that releases or prohibits. The challenge is very great in this sense. It is really necessary to verify this situation, so that, from the regulation, we have, at least, a knowledge of the rules. From then on, the authorities will be able to demand compliance with them. In my understanding regulation is not the final solution to maintaining the integrity of the sport, but I think regulation can be one of the factors that will help build a strong integrity system. Agência Brasil: Many people still do not understand how bets investigated are placed. Briefly, what types of betting are offered? And what is the reason for betting on yellow cards to gain prominence in investigations conducted by the Public Ministry? Tiago Horta: The betting market is still in its infancy in Brazil. It has gained momentum over the last four years. So it’s still all part of a big learning curve. The markets related to a sporting event are varied. You have, for example, the results market, who will win the match, which is similar to the sports lottery. In addition, there is the goals market, of how many goals will be scored in the game. There are variations of these markets, related to the times of the first and second half of a game: Who will win in the first half? Who will win in the second half? Those would be the most popular markets, where there’s more liquidity, more money running around. However, there are other markets that generate interest from bettors, such as who will score the goal, or yellow cards, corner kicks. There are people who are interested in betting on these secondary markets, as they believe that, eventually, it can be more advantageous. Regarding the issue of yellow cards, I understand that it gained relevance because, in the opinion of the manipulators, to manipulate the final result of a match it is necessary to co-opt a group of athletes. Within this notion of fraud, it is important to know that manipulators are not always successful in their attempts. This is where the issue of cards comes in. To defraud a yellow card situation, just co-opt a single athlete. This agreement is more punctual, it ends up being easier to reach. Furthermore, these athletes feel embarrassed to manipulate the result of a match, the final result of a game. But when the recruiters propose a fraud in a card situation, many times they manage to convince the athletes, stating that this is a situation that will not cause great damage to the result of the match. The big problem is that, from the moment the athlete accepts this for the first time, he is in the hands of the recruiter. Then you will hardly be able to get out of it. He is susceptible to threats and blackmail. That is why education is so important. Athletes need to learn about the risk of engaging in this and the importance of refuting any proposal in this regard. Agência Brasil: Something that draws the attention of many people is the involvement of players from the A and B Series in these crimes, because there is a perception that these athletes have good salaries. What explains this involvement? Tiago Horta: The big question is that, when we are dealing with athletes, we have to remember that we are dealing with people, not with machines. The issue of salaries shows this a lot. There are two factors that I think are very important here. The first is that there is no uniformity of low or high wages. Flamengo, for example, has a range of salaries, while the cast of Cuiabá has another. Salary realities are very discrepant and, within the squads themselves, there are also athletes who receive salaries very different from each other. The second factor is that athletes are inserted in a family context, of friends. These athletes, sometimes to help someone they know or are influenced in some way, can be led to practice this type of fraud. These yellow card frauds will happen even in the most important championships, those that will have liquidity in the card markets, that will have enough money running to justify the practice of these frauds. It is very unlikely that Serie C or D games will offer this type of market, as they will not move enough money for bets to take place in these markets without arousing greater suspicion. Agência Brasil: In your opinion, what damage does the climate of distrust caused by the revelation of fraud schemes bring to Brazilian football? Tiago Horta: I understand that the situation is devastating. Evil has to be nipped in the bud. The punitive examples must be exemplary, you cannot put your hand on the athlete’s head at a time like this, because the whole environment is put at risk, the entire football industry is threatened. It is enough to note the perplexity of people in recent days, the concern and the feeling of mistrust that has increased absurdly. Football, the sport as a whole, has two fundamental pillars: credibility and unpredictability. These two pillars must stand, for the good of the entire sports industry (sponsorship, athlete contracts, TV contracts, etc.). If one of these pillars is broken, the entire system comes crashing down. I think that sports courts are taking a slow stance in relation to what has been reported by the press. In addition, there is a complaint from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Goiás that appoints several players. From the moment there is a player suspected of participating in a fraudulent scheme, it is totally unfeasible for that player to continue acting. It is not to curtail anyone’s right to defend themselves, but all these players should be preventively suspended, unable to act until the facts are fully clarified. This is all because an entire system is at risk and we cannot consider that the simple presumption of innocence of these athletes is more important than an entire system. We have to maintain credibility and unpredictability. That should be priority number one. Later these athletes will be able to defend themselves, and those who manage to prove their innocence must play again. As for the others, I think they shouldn’t. Agência Brasil: What actions can be taken (by CBF, Government, etc) to prevent these crimes? Could betting regulation be a way forward? Tiago Horta: Everyone has a role in combating match fixing. However, we must be clear that we are not going to put an end to the manipulation of results, but we must take a series of measures to prevent the occurrence and know how to act when cases come to light. And this action must be assertive. Especially in sports, there is a lot of doubt about what to do, how to act. In this matter, the different actors related to the sports betting sector have to work together, each within their scope of action: public authorities, CBF, other sports federations, clubs and also private companies, which can contribute with solutions compliance (to ensure that the rules are followed), monitoring of betting sites, offering reporting channels and producing private investigations. There are several tools. This all has to be structured within a system. There is no point in thinking that an isolated action by public authorities will solve the problem, or just an action by sports entities. Prevention work is perhaps the most important factor. By doing a good job of prevention, the participation and entry of most of these athletes and referees in match-fixing schemes is avoided. It is a task that must be led by sports entities, both in sport administration (federations, CBF) and by sports entities (which are clubs). They all have to work nationally. There is no point in thinking that the government will do this alone. But this also demands investment from sports entities, which often fail to take the necessary steps, as they say it will be expensive. But they must understand that it is necessary to do their part, while the public power will act in the way it is acting now, in cases where education has failed to generate awareness in the people involved (athletes, referees, managers) that they should not practice fraud . Today we do not have an environment built for preventive work, and all other initiatives to combat the problem are not considered within a system. A federation, for example, can hire a monitoring system to detect fraud, and they don’t know how to follow up on this initiative. What to do with that information now? Prevention and combat go through the construction of structured systems of integrity. There is no point in thinking that an isolated initiative built in any way will solve the problem.
Agência Brasil
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