“The large number of games played at various sporting levels creates an environment conducive to manipulation. Each game, especially those in lower divisions, represents a potential opportunity for those seeking to corrupt the sport, and Brazil is the country where the most football matches are played in the world,” explained Tiago Horta Barbosa.
He highlighted Genius Sports' experience with over 160 leagues and sports federations. He added that, without advanced technological means, it would be impossible to identify manipulation situations aimed at profiting in the betting market. For this, the company uses algorithms that cross-reference relevant information about teams, players, and referees, and any alerts are analyzed by integrity specialists.
“To effectively combat corruption in sport, it is imperative that we remain vigilant and responsive to the constantly evolving tactics employed by those who seek to undermine its integrity.”
The Genius Sports representative understands that if high-level, high-paid Brazilian players have also been involved in sports fraud, less privileged athletes may see this practice as a chance for a “step change” in their lives.
Citing statistics, Barbosa recalled that, internationally, the vast majority of fraud occurs in lower-division tournaments, and advocated for education throughout the sports environment about the risks of competition manipulation.
“Addressing the problem [...] involves building integrity systems in the sports environment that truly serve to prevent the occurrence of sports fraud, effectively detect those that still occur, and finally, provide the tools for a rapid response, whether through severe sanctions or other means,” he argued.
In response to Senator Romário (PL-RJ), rapporteur of the CPI, Barbosa stated that there is no problem with competing companies serving the same entities. He recalled that both Genius Sports, which does not monitor Brazilian football, and Sportradar serve FIFA and UEFA. The deponent noted, however, that it is not up to one company to say that the other issued a wrong opinion.
“Nothing prevents a sports entity from working with more than one monitoring company. Indeed, this is FIFA's recommendation, even to potentially strengthen identified manipulation cases. It is logically much stronger to have two or three reports indicating fraud than just one, this is positive.”
Barbosa did not want to give an opinion on the case of player Lucas Paquetá – also invited to testify at the CPI –, who is being investigated in England for suspected involvement in betting schemes. But he said the English Federation must have great confidence in the work of its partners.
“[Paquetá] may or may not [have committed the crime]. I really don’t have the elements to assert any situation regarding this.”
Romário stated that the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), of which Genius Sports is an associate member, has played an essential role in the athlete's investigation and questioned whether IBIA's model could be applied in Brazil.
“This is natural within the regulatory process we are going through. My understanding is that this will naturally happen, even because the law itself requires betting houses to be part of some integrity monitoring system,” he declared.
For Barbosa, despite the efforts of Brazilian entities given the size of the challenge they face, integrity work in sport in Europe is “10 to 15 years ahead” of Brazil.
“The issue of bringing together stakeholders, managing to set up a collaborative system with public authorities, sports entities, and athlete unions, all of this, I think they are already at a more advanced level than we are today, but that doesn't mean we aren't moving in that direction.”
Barbosa also did not comment on the statements of businessman John Textor, majority partner of Botafogo, about match-fixing. He said he could not compare the analysis methods of Good Game! with those of Sportradar regarding the games contested by Textor.
Source: Agência Senado
