The Gol Contra operation had another stage this Tuesday (26), with six search and seizure warrants carried out simultaneously in the cities of Ceará-Mirim and Rio Branco, in Acre. The action investigates the existence of an alleged scheme to manipulate the results of football matches with the aim of earning illicit profits from sports betting. Searches were carried out against six suspects involved in the alleged betting scheme within the Potiguar Championship.
The action had the support of the Public Ministry of Acre (MPAC) and the Military Police of Rio Grande do Norte. In total, three prosecutors, 18 MPRN and MPAC employees, and 12 military police officers carried out four search and seizure warrants in Ceará-Mirim and two others in Rio Branco. Crimes against the uncertainty of the sporting result, provided for in the General Sports Law, are investigated, as well as criminal association, provided for in the Penal Code.
The MPRN already has evidence that there are bettors who benefit from participating directly or through privileged information; that there are recruiters who offer values to the technical staff of the teams involved to obtain fraudulent results; there are also players who are protagonists on the field; and also possible managers and/or technicians conniving or involved in the alleged scheme. For the MPRN, there are already strong elements of evidence and concrete external signs capable of pointing out fraud. This alleged scheme is called “Mercado Bet”.
The seized material will be analyzed by the MPRN, which is still investigating the possible involvement of other people in the alleged scheme of manipulating football match results.
The North Rio Grande do Sul Football Federation (FNF), through president José Vanildo, was the one who, through indicating suspicious results, forwarded the complaint to the Public Ministry indicating possible manipulations in clashes in the 2024 Potiguar Championship. suspects are ABC and Força e Luz, which had a positive result of 6-0 for the black and white team, on January 17th, and the confrontation between Globo and Santa Cruz de Natal.
José Vanildo, who was unaware of the operations carried out in Ceará-Mirim and Rio Branco-AC, hopes that the case will be resolved and that, if there are culprits, they will be punished in an exemplary manner.
Information about possible manipulation reached the Federation through a company hired by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which monitors the chances of fraud in games. “This may indicate the participation of players or managers,” he said. With the analysis in hand, the manager immediately passed the case on to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Sports Justice.
If manipulation is proven in the games, the athlete involved could suffer a sanction with the expectation of being eliminated from the competition, informed the president of the FNF. Depending on what is found in the complaint, the club may also suffer punishment.
According to promoter Luiz Eduardo Marinho, the reports produced by the company hired by the CBF identified atypical movements based on the volume of bets in certain game statistics. It is precisely this issue that gained the focus of investigations.
Tags: Operation Gol Contra fulfills warrants Rio Grande Norte
