SPORTS BETTING

Brazilian match fixing inquiry hears from Sportradar

In testimony to the CPI on Match-Fixing and Sports Betting Manipulation Felippe Marchetti outlined Sportradar‘s methods for detecting fraud and argued that many clubs and players in Brazil are vulnerable to proposals from businessmen linked to match-fixing.

In his hearing request (REQ 42/2024), Senator Romário the committee’s rapporteur, cited a report issued in March by Sportradar that highlighted Brazil as the “world champion of fraud” in the sector, with 109 suspicious matches out of a total of 9,000 analyzed matches.

“The vast majority of athletes in Brazil are in a condition of economic vulnerability. They [the manipulators] saw a very conducive scenario for manipulation here, and since 2015 we have seen an increase in cases. (…) Those who are most susceptible, most vulnerable, are the athletes from small clubs,” Marchetti said.

According to the Senate news agency in response to Romário’s questioning, the company representative argued that betting houses are interested in resolving fraud because they also lose money due to manipulation, but there were no means for betting companies based abroad to communicate irregularities to Brazilian authorities. He advocated for Brazil’s adherence to the Macolin Convention, which deals with international combat against sports results manipulation.

Also in response to Romário, Marchetti said that Sportradar had not detected anomalies in the matches mentioned by businessman John Textor, the majority shareholder of Botafogo, as being targeted for manipulation.

However, the president of the CPI, Senator Jorge Kajuru cited the committee’s secret meeting with John Textor, in which most senators saw indications of evidence. Marchetti said he could not speak about the methodology of other fraud-tracking companies.

“Within our technique, our evaluation parameters, which are (…) scientifically validated as well as by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, we found no evidence or indication of result manipulation in the mentioned matches,” he said.

Earlier this year Sportradar Integrity Services, a unit of Sportradar published its annual report, ‘Betting Corruption and Match-fixing in 2023’. It reported that compared to 2022, there was a notable decline in suspicious matches detected in Brazil (-44), although it still retained the top spot globally.

The CPI of Sports Betting is in response to a request filed by former football player and lawmaker Senator Romário who said he wanted to open a parliamentary inquiry commission into the matter. The CPI is looking into facts related to allegations and suspicions of manipulation in the sport involving athletes, officials, and betting companies.