“It is a very important day for me and I hope it is also for football in Brazil. It’s a sport we all love,” said Textor. He thanked the Senate for doing something that he said he had not seen anywhere else in the world – which is an investigation by a committee of a legislative house into allegations of manipulation of football results.
According to Textor, fraud in results is now a global problem. “Manipulation occurs like doping. Nobody wants to believe it, until we realize that this can happen anywhere,” he declared.
According to Textor, the technology used by the company Good Game! – hired by him to analyze matches – does not say why the game was manipulated, but points out how it was. The manager said that some games affected Botafogo indirectly. For the businessman, if the evidence is considered, the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) – a body linked to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and unrelated to the Judiciary – and also the police and the CPI could take initiatives.
Textor made an analogy when he said that manipulation is like a magic trick, in which the fan looks at a move, while the irregularity occurs in another situation. He said that computer vision can see every second of the game, with the ability to evaluate the performance of referees and players.
In the secret meeting with members of the CPI, the owner of Botafogo delivered a 180-page report prepared by the company Good Game! pointing out signs of manipulation of results.
According to senator Kajuru (PSB-GO), Textor spoke about Botafogo games and several others, showing images and documents. The president of the commission said that CPI members will analyze the reports and information that were delivered.
Source: Agência Senado
