The game in which the facts would have occurred was held on July 5, for the Taça Fares Lopes. The tournament is organized annually in the second half of the year by the Ceará Football Federation (FCF) to give a schedule to teams from the State that do not participate in the four divisions of the Brazilian Championship or so that bigger clubs, such as Fortaleza, can give rhythm to players with little competition.
Guarani de Juazeiro traveled to face Iguatu for the second round and lost by 6 to 0. The company Sportradar, contracted by the FCF to monitor sports betting and cross information that identifies possible manipulations in games, informed the entity in a report about the possibility of the two Guarani athletes "being practicing acts contrary to sports fairness with flagrant indications of involvement in sports betting."
What the two athletes actually did is being kept under wraps. The game's summary, signed by the referee Francisco Willame da Silva Ferreira, shows that five of the six goals occurred in the second half, in a space of just 21 minutes, between the 6th and the 27th, something unusual. There was a goal at 10, 11 and 16 minutes. Only Guarani athletes received a yellow card in the game, five in total, and two of them in extra time of the first half.
The FCF board sent Sportradar's report to members of the TJD-CE, who opted for the provisional suspension of two players. The case will now be investigated by the court's attorney and the information can be passed on to the Public Prosecutor's Office of Ceará so that it can be dealt with in the civil and criminal spheres.
In recent months, mainly after an investigation by the Goiás prosecutor's office, several cases of athletes suspected of participating in schemes with gangs that manipulate sports betting were revealed.
The MP from Goiás has already denounced at least 17 people and the STJD (Superior Court of Sports Justice) suspended eight players, with penalties that reached the banning of football.
Source: Itatiaia
