Testifying as a witness, Felippe Marchetti, the integrity manager at Sportradar, a Swiss-based company providing services to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and several betting houses, highlighted concerns over match-fixing in Brazil. In his hearing request, Senator Romário, the commission's rapporteur, cited a report issued by Sportradar in March that labeled Brazil as the "world champion of fraud" in the sector, with 109 suspicious matches out of 9,000 analyzed.
Citing Sportradar's experience in partnerships with sports leagues and police authorities worldwide, Marchetti emphasized the international operations of match-fixers, who have found better opportunities in Latin America as anti-fraud efforts in Europe have become more stringent. He believes educating players is fundamental to combating manipulation.
"The vast majority of athletes in Brazil are in economically vulnerable situations. These manipulators saw a very conducive environment for manipulation here, and since 2015 we have seen an increase in cases. (...) Those most susceptible and vulnerable are athletes from smaller clubs," he stated.
Artificial Intelligence
Marchetti explained the workings of Sportradar's artificial intelligence mechanisms that monitor real-time odds at both legal and illegal betting houses, comparing actual betting movements with expected ones. He cited company reports that led to significant investigations into match-fixing in Brazil but noted that statistical exposure does not replace the responsibility of qualitative analysis.
In response to Romário's question, the company's representative opined that betting houses are interested in resolving fraud since they also lose money due to manipulation, but there are no means for foreign-based betting companies to report irregularities to Brazilian authorities.
He advocated for Brazil's adherence to the Macolin Convention, which deals with combating international sports result manipulation. "This flow of information among all actors is crucial for fighting the fraud system so that not only betting houses but also athletes, managers, and all those interested in protecting the sport know who to turn to, how to do it, and how the information will be handled after the report."
Romário noted that despite years of match-fixing investigations, betting houses continue to incur "millions" in losses and do not approach the Public Prosecutor's Office. "This is something that strikes me as very strange. So, I believe there is something, I don't know what it is, I can't even imagine," Romário stated.
In response to Senator Eduardo Girão, who also questioned the interest of betting houses in combating manipulation, Marchetti agreed that betting houses are also victims of fraud. "I see it as positive for a betting house to sponsor an integrity service for a sports federation or to sponsor a workshop for the clubs they sponsor."
John Textor, owner of SAF Botafogo
Also responding to Romário, Marchetti said that Sportradar did not detect anomalies in the matches mentioned by businessman John Textor, majority partner of Botafogo, as targets of manipulation. "In fact, the betting market movement goes against the allegations," he explained.
However, the president of the CPI, Senator Jorge Kajuru, cited the committee's secret meeting with John Textor, where most senators saw evidence. Marchetti said he could not comment on the methodology of other fraud tracking companies - Textor mentioned the work of Good Game! - but defended Sportradar's analysis.
"Within our technique, our evaluation parameters, which are scientifically validated and by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, we did not find any evidence or indication of match-fixing in the cited games."
Marchetti considered that a face-off between Sportradar and Good Game! representatives would not make sense but stated that "the company making the accusations must explain the methodology they use."
"Coincidence"
Senator Styvenson Valentim cited the case of Globo Futebol Clube, from his state, which gathered 16 athletes from all over Brazil with "traces of having been through some type of manipulation." Felippe Marchetti, citing reports, ruled out the possibility of coincidence, noting that Globo had manipulated two or three matches in the Campeonato Potiguar, but he could not categorically state that the club was aware of the fraud.
"We start to gather, cross-check evidence we get from the betting market with athletes' history, and then we can often predict what might happen."
Styvenson requested a copy of a Sportradar report that, by analyzing athletes' history and the financial condition of entities, identified ten clubs with potential for manipulation, of which eight were indeed involved in fraud cases. Felippe Marchetti stressed that all reports of suspicious matches over the past two years are already available for the CPI's examination.
Senator Carlos Portinho evaluated that the CBF lacks care in detecting fraud, as the country's most important championships are supervised by Sportradar through an agreement with FIFA for one-page reports.
"It is not possible that, even after this CPI was opened, the CBF has not made a more robust contract for a report from one company, or two, or three, or as many as needed to ensure the integrity of the competitions," Portinho opined.
Organized crime
The senators also expressed concern over the revelation of an alleged debt of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa - which bought MCE, the company operating the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) - with the organization Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). Felippe Marchetti stated he was unaware of the specific case or any cases of organized crime involvement in match-fixing in Brazil but did not rule out the possibility.
"This is what we see internationally, for example, with the Albanian mafia, which is involved in arms trafficking and human trafficking. These guys are involved in match-fixing in the Balkans. So, thinking with an organized crime mindset, it would make sense for organized crime to get involved in match-fixing."
Styvenson, who submitted a request for a hearing from a Loterj representative to the CPI, expressed suspicion about the "resistance" of the Rio de Janeiro gaming agency to adopt transparency and compliance mechanisms.
"The state agency needs to be called here so that they can clarify things like this, why they didn't invite Sportradar. I don't know if Sportradar was invited because they did a workshop with Paraná, but not with Loterj."
Source: Agência Senado
