The summons and invitation requirements were voted in blocks after the doubts of some deputies were resolved by the president of the Commission, Júlio Arcoverde (PP-PI).
Even before the start of the voting, deputy Jilmar Tatto (PT-SP), asked that the works not be conducted in the form of public hearings, but testimonies, either by guests or summoned, at the CPI meeting itself, so as not to disturb the directions of investigations.
Jilmar Tatto said he hoped “that nothing happens to Brazilian football because it is the national passion that unites the country. With people acting to affect the result, that passion goes away. The sport cannot fall into disrepute in Brazil. It will depend on us, the police and the Public Prosecutor's Office to stop this.”
It was decided to invite Fernando Cesconetto, public prosecutor of Goiás, and Cyro Terra Peres, Attorney General of the MP-GO, to be heard by the group in order to clarify everything that has been investigated by the MP-GO.
It was also approved the request to the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Goiás for the body to pass on all the existing information and documental and legal collection to subsidize the work of the CPI.
Plano de Trabalho da CPI que investiga a manipulação de resultados no futebol brasileiro by GAMES MAGAZINE BRASIL on Scribd
Manipulation and money laundering
Deputy Ricardo Silva (PSD-SP) said that the CPI needs to move forward in the investigation of money laundering, "since there is a lot of money at stake being used to sponsor criminal actions."
"The CPI must draw up legislation on sports betting that provides security for the activity and so that football lovers feel prestigious for supporting their favorite clubs," defended deputy Alice Portugal (PCdoB-BA).
“Match-fixing in football is a criminal type that has tentacles all over the planet and Brazil is a world leader in suspicious cases according to Interpol report. What we will investigate in this CPI is the tip of the iceberg of a criminal scheme that involves high figures and many characters from the world football ecosystem,” said Deputy Delegado da Cunha (PP-SP).
According to him, more than R$ 13 billion (US$ 2.6b) left over Brazilian borders without inspection and without paying taxes in the first quarter of this year for the unregulated sports betting sector. “It is the fertile ground for crime to continue to thrive. In addition to listening to and deepening investigations, this CPI will have the mission of broadening the debate regarding the mechanisms currently used by sports entities, bookmakers and the government in combating the practice,” said Delegate da Cunha.
Work plan
Deputy André Figueiredo (PDT-CE), vice-president of the CPI, suggested that all requests (more than 130 by the time the first meeting took place) be voted on in a block at the next meeting to prevent the Commission from extending for a lot of time just in discussions and voting on applications.
Then, he presented the work plan, noting that the end of the CPI will take place on September 28th. The schedule will be:
May 23rd – presentation and voting on the work plan
May 30th to July 13th – meetings, public hearings, official missions and other diligences
July 18th to 31st – parliamentary recess
August 1st to September 14th – continuation of work on meetings, hearings, missions and diligences
Until September 18th – presentation of the proposed CPI report
September 19th and 21st – discussion of the CPI report proposal
September 26th and 28th – vote on the proposed CPI report and forwarded to the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies.
Deputy Áureo Ribeiro (Solidariedade-RJ) said that some pillars should guide the CPI's actions. “The Commission should focus on investigating all criminal setup involving betting on Brazilian football, but should create guidelines to guide pedagogical activity of the current scenario of gambling and platforms hosted outside the country.”
According to him, “we are obliged to clearly understand this new unregulated segment, an economic activity, listening to Executive managers who can accurately inform all the logistical and operational functioning of the platforms, which proliferate in our country.”
He said that some questions need to be asked to the Executive and to the new segment that wants to be regulated. “We need to know if the platforms have financial backing for deposits and what guarantee Brazilian gamblers have that their prizes will be paid. We must also understand how they will treat addicts and the vulnerable,” he defended.
CBF did not fulfill its role
Speaking about the CPI's way of working, deputy Yury do Paredão (PL-CE) stated that the CBF did not play the role it should have played. “With these scandals, the CBF should have taken the necessary initiatives, since that is its role and not ours, the deputies.”
“I want to repudiate the CBF's attention to Brazilian football. The president of the entity is not concerned with taking care of the great national passion that is football, monitoring state competitions or the Brazilian Championship,” he reinforced.
Regulation already
Deputy Leur Lomanto Jr. (União-BA) asked for objectivity in the discussions of the CPI and defended that the bets be regulated as soon as possible.
“The bookmakers inject a lot of money into virtually all clubs and we cannot underestimate the importance of these resources for Brazilian football. Bookmakers play a very important role and the activity needs to be regulated,” he said.
He added that “those who manipulate the results are not the companies (bookmakers), it is the bandits and the players who are involved in these scams. The laws must be tightened and athletes who commit illegalities, banned once and for all from Brazilian football”.
Deputy Bacelar (PV-BA), a tireless defender of gaming and betting activities in Brazil, said that “we are not here to criminalize sports betting, mainly because it is an activity that generates income, jobs and makes profit worldwide. We need to focus and we cannot forget that the government spent almost five years without regulating the activity.”
Source: GMB
