A report by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) mentions 111 users and around R$56.7 thousand in suspicious bets. The events in question relate to the yellow card received by Juventude striker Ênio during the match against Vitória in the first round of the Brazilian Serie A Championship.
This document raised concerns about possible manipulation of the bid, as reported by the GE portal.
According to the report, several of these users had newly created accounts and many were placing their first bets at the time of the player warning.
The document was sent to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). The CBF then distributed the document to agencies such as the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Office of the Attorney General of the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) and state federations. The confederation chose not to comment on the case.
Statement on the investigation
Juventude decided to drop Ênio before the match against Botafogo on Saturday. Initially, they claimed that the decision was linked to a possible transfer of the player. Coach Fábio Matias, however, admitted to knowing about the investigation before the game.
The report details suspicions at five different bookmakers, and one of them identified 22 users with unusual behavior, of which 12 were from Brazil, involving R$27.6 thousand in bets, generating an approximate profit of R$40.3 thousand. Other accounts in Europe contributed with additional bets of R$3 thousand.
A second operator reported the presence of 60 suspicious users. Of these, ten had just created their accounts, totaling R$12,400 in bets.
Another company highlighted that three of its bets identified 29 new suspicious users, who bet R$13.7 thousand on Ênio’s yellow card. In addition, some bettors tried to exceed the allowed limits, but were prevented.
In addition to these five betting houses mentioned in the IBIA report, the GE portal reported that another operator also raised suspicions about the bid.
Understand the case of possible manipulation of Ênio do Juventude
Ênio received a yellow card in the 36th minute of the first half against Vitória. As reported by referee Paulo Cesar Zanovelli, the punishment was due to a complaint.
The report also reveals that at least three of the suspected bettors are professional athletes. FIFA, CBF and federal law prohibit them from participating in sports betting.
After the defeat to Botafogo, coach Fábio Matias declared: “We received the information on Thursday night, this alert in relation to what happened, together with the management.
This was through the club president, we had a meeting to decide that he was out of this game here until the situation is concluded.”
Finally, the CBF stated that matters related to the integrity unit are confidential and Sportradar, its partner in betting monitoring, also did not comment on ongoing investigations.
