Brazil Zeroes in on Sports Betting Fraud
Author:
Megan Butler
With regulated sports betting in Brazil just around the corner, the country is looking more closely at the industry and its shortcomings. Specifically, Brazil’s government is now investigating cases of fraud within the sports betting sphere. Some particular cases are already under investigation, and in general, this has opened up a wider discussion about the future of regulating this important gaming vertical.
In Brazil, high-profile match fixing cases have encouraged increased attention to the problem within soccer.
?Omar Ram/Unsplash
A chance to prevent fraud in Brazilian games
Brazil’s government has become interested in analyzing sports betting fraud due to regulation as well as recent cases. The good news for Brazil is that the government is in the position to address problems like match fixing and money laundering head on within its new sports betting rules.
Though cases of fraud are not exactly ideal, recent instances also give authorities a chance to analyze what has gone wrong in the past in order to prevent it from happening in the future. That seems to be the attitude of legislators at the moment, who are pushing ahead with research into the fraught topic of sports betting fraud.
Brazil’s government plans to tackle this issue by creating a provisional measure for regulation of sportsbooks. This is currently spearheaded by the Chamber of Deputies. President of the chamber, Arthur Lira, announced that the parliament would create three separation investigation committees.
One of these three is focused specifically on investigating soccer match results. This 34-member group came to be due to a request by another deputy, Felipe Carreras. Carreras had initially asked for this in March 2023. He was supported by 171 signatories who voiced their approval of the idea.
The other groups are unrelated to sports betting, with one focused on the investigation of possible fraud in Grupo Americanas; the last of the three has to do with the Landless Rural Workers Movement.
Recent cases of match fixing
This swift, proactive approach is primarily due to recent cases of match fixing that have been identified in Brazil and have become quite high-profile. Some cases were announced by the Goiás Public Ministry, who were privy to investigations conducted by Brazil’s Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime.
The cases were also supported by the Intelligence and Institutional Security of the State. All together, it was found that Series A of the 2022 Brazilian Championship soccer tournament held six cases of match fixing. Brazil’s state championship matches may have also had cases, which are still being investigated so no concrete conclusions have been drawn yet.
The investigation into these fixed matches started at the beginning of 2023 under the name “Operation Maximum II.” The operation further determined the reward that players received for participating in fixed matches, including payments of between R$70,000 and R$100,000.
Since betting can occur on finer aspects of the game — not only on the final score or who wins or loses — players engaged in this illegal activity have many opportunities to tilt the scales and earn clandestine payments. For example, they could be paid for getting a red or yellow card, for corner kicks, or for taking part in penalties.
Aside from identifying these details, the investigation also found one of the ringleaders of the group, businessman Bruno López de Moura. He has now been sentenced to preventative detention while he awaits trial.
The Brazilian Soccer Confederation spoke out against match fixing, not mincing words, and asked for strong punishments for anyone who is found to be involved in such cases.
