John Textor reinforces allegations of match-fixing in the Betting CPI
Written by :
Heloisa Vasconcelos
Businessman John Textor, majority shareholder of SAF Botafogo, gave testimony last Monday (22) to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Game Manipulation and Sports Betting, of the Federal Senate.
On that occasion, Textor reinforced the allegations of manipulation of results in the Brazilian Championship, stating that he had evidence of fraud by players from São Paulo and Palmeiras.
He submitted a report of over 180 pages to the CPI in a secret session, held immediately after his testimony before the CPI. According to the chairman of the committee, Senator Jorge Kajuru, the senators will analyze the reports and the information submitted.
The allegations made by the businessman are based on a report produced by the French company Good Games!, hired by Textor to analyze matches in which Botafogo was allegedly harmed.
According to the partner of the Rio de Janeiro team, if the data from the 109 suspicious matches were cross-referenced, it would be possible to confirm manipulation in around 20% of them.
Testimony at the CPI
John Textor refused to name names or provide evidence during the open session of the CPI, stating that he would only present evidence during the secret session, held immediately afterwards.
According to the businessman, the evidence he had access to shows how the games were manipulated, not why. “I have a high degree of confidence in this technology,” he said.
The businessman explained the methodology of the analysis, which can identify abnormal behavior on the part of players during the match. According to him, in the Palmeiras 5 x 0 São Paulo game, one of the São Paulo players analyzed had eight deficiencies, almost three times more than the rate considered normal.
“ I’m not saying these players are rigging the game, but I can say that this game was rigged. The chance of having more than eight standard deviations in a single game is very unlikely. ”
John TextorMajority shareholder of SAF Botafogo
During his testimony, the businessman reaffirmed that Palmeiras benefited from manipulation schemes in 2022 and 2023, but said that he never accused Palmeiras or São Paulo, as clubs, of being behind any manipulation.
In addition to the players’ actions on the field, Textor accused referees of being involved in match-fixing. He cited a match between Vasco and Palmeiras in which the VAR camera angle was allegedly positioned, leading to the incorrect disallowance of a Vasco goal.
He also questioned the fact that a VAR (video assistant referee) referee was assigned to the same field referee 16 times out of a possible 20, in addition to the sponsorships of betting companies to football events and entities.
Today, Betano sponsors the Brazilian Championship. “I can’t imagine betting companies sponsoring the football confederation,” he said.
Secret session
During the secret meeting, Textor spoke about Botafogo games and several other games, showing images and documents, according to an interview given by Senator Jorge Kajuru.
“We had access to several clues. We don’t want to talk about evidence yet, but there is very important evidence,” he said.
Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) said he perceived content in Textor’s allegations and that there are at least technical elements and reasons to investigate.
“I hope that this CPI receives many john textors, with content to denounce. Those who come will be well received,” he declared.
Kajuru called the next CPI meeting for next Wednesday (24). There is no scheduled agenda yet.