The Ministry of Justice asked the Federal Police (PF) to investigate suspicions of match-fixing in games in Brazil. This initiative came from the National Sports Betting Secretariat, linked to the Ministry of Sports, following William Rogatto‘s testimony at the Betting CPI, on October 8.
During his testimony, businessman William Rogatto stated that manipulation of results has been going on for more than 40 years. Therefore, he described a “complex system” involving photos, videos, negotiations, recordings and conversations related to these schemes.
Rogatto, considered one of the leaders of the betting operations investigated by the courts, confessed to manipulating football games in Brazil. Thus, he claimed to have profited around R$300 million, especially with the relegation of teams.
Revelations of manipulation of results in testimony at the Betting CPI
Declaring himself a confessed defendant, Rogatto revealed that he was responsible for the relegation of 42 football teams. It operated in all state football federations in Brazil, including the Federal District, and in nine countries, such as Colombia.
He mentioned that “in terms of amounts handled, the match tampering scheme is second only to politics and drug trafficking.”
Rogatto criticized the relationship between football clubs and bookmakers, stating that the “greatest hypocrisy in the world is having a football club today and being sponsored by a bookmaker”.
When responding to Senator Romário (PL-RJ), CPI rapporteur, Rogatto commented that the sponsorship of betting houses for clubs “already opens a trigger for everything to happen”.
He explained that, from this point on, “the player becomes a bet, he doesn’t receive a decent salary and the bet comes and provides support”.
The CPI rapporteur suggested a plea bargain to Rogatto. However, he stated that, despite finding it “interesting”, he saw no guarantees of protection, due to the threats he received from those involved in the schemes.
Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) defended the granting of security measures to Rogatto, considering the seriousness of his statements.
Therefore, he questioned the businessman about the participation of politicians in the scheme, to which Rogatto confirmed: “There are politicians, councilors, mayors. The system is unique and you need people to enter. Everyone likes money. I have always tried to enter the Sports secretariats.”
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