Brazilian Police Arrest Seven People for Match Fixing

07/07/2016 - 10h14

On Wednesday, June 6, the Brazilian Civil Police Department arrested seven people suspected of being members of a gang responsible for match fixing - they allegedly interfered in the results of soccer matches, mainly in the A2 and A3 series of the São Paulo Championship, and lower divisions in the country's North and Northeast regions.

The group's objective was to benefit gamblers on websites of Asian countries.

The police also say that the network is comprised of gamblers from Malaysia, China and Indonesia.

	Jose Luis Silva/Codigo19/Folhapress
	The gang allegedly interfered in the results of matches in the A2 and A3 series of the São Paulo Championship

One of the people arrested is Carlos Henrique de Luna, 33, a former goalkeeper for América-SP, who told "Diário da Região" newspaper that he had no participation in the scheme.

In his statement to the Sports State Court of Appeals of São Paulo, the president of América, José Carlos Pereira Neto, said that Anderson da Silva Rodrigues, allegedly one of the members of the inducement gang working in Brazil, contacted him.

Attacker Márcio Souza da Silva, 36, who played soccer in Indonesia for some eight years, also was arrested by the police in Rio de Janeiro.

Paulo Schmitt, the attorney general of the Sports Federal Superior Court of Appeals, disclosed a report based on the analyses of unusual variations on gambling websites carried out by specialized companies. The report shows irregular activities in several matches held in 2015.

In September, for example, Sorocaba suffered a 9-0 defeat to Santo André in a game of the Sub-20 São Paulo championship. Unusual transactions on gambling websites and the fact that Sorocaba chose players under the age of 18 drew attention.

Michele, Luna's wife, told Folha that her husband has "nothing to do with the case." The lawyers of Márcio Souza da Silva and of Anderson Rodrigues could not be found.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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