The pausing of the Brazilian Championship has been discarded by the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), but this does not reduce the concern of the leaders. The fear is that Operation Maximum Penalty, triggered by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Goiás, will involve more and more players and even reach referees.
A complaint by the Public Prosecution Service, last Monday (8), introduced new names of players allegedly linked to the betting scheme, after analyzing the content of seized computers and cell phones.
It is the Prosecution Service's belief, that the leader of the group of gamblers is Bruno Lopes de Moura, a futsal athlete. According to prosecutor Fernando Cesconetto, another 16 people could still become defendants.
The basis of the scheme involved enticing players, in exchange for money (payments ranging from R$50,000 to R$500,000), to perform certain actions during matches, such as receiving a yellow or red card, taking a penalty, etc.
This Wednesday (10), the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flavio Dino, ordered the Federal Police to investigate the case.
So far, nine players have been dropped by clubs after being named by punters or mentioned in conversations with gang leaders.
Translated by Cassy Dias