Manipulation CPI summons top hat from Minas Gerais club, judges and businesspeople

The Federal Senate’s Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) into the Manipulation of Games and Sports Betting summoned new authorities to give testimony in a secret session. Among them are judges, businesspeople and a top hat from a Minas Gerais team.

The requests were presented by senators Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO), president of the commission; Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), vice-president; Romário (PL-RJ), rapporteur; and Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ).

Among those called up are Lane Gaviolle, president of Tombense, Raphael Claus, FIFA referee and present at the last World Cup, Daiane Muniz, FIFA video assistant (VAR), and Wilson Seneme, president of the CBF Arbitration Commission. The requests may be approved in a session this Wednesday (24).

Glauber do Amaral Cunha, a former football referee cited by John Textor, owner of SAF do Botafogo, was also called to the hearing for allegedly receiving bribes.

The American businessman presented the CPI with an audio in which the judge allegedly confesses to having received money to manipulate bids in a game. It is not known for sure which match is involved.

The justification for summoning Claus and Daiane was the number of times they were both selected to act together as, respectively, field and video referees.

According to Senator Jorge Kajuru’s request, the refereeing duo was called up in 11 matches of the 2023 Brazilian Championship, something that, according to him, happened to other judges a maximum of three times. The two would have made mistakes in controversial moves in some matches.

Claus was selected by the CBF to officiate the classic between Flamengo and Botafogo, next Sunday (28), in the fourth round of the Brasileirão. On Tuesday (23), the Rio de Janeiro black and white team sent a letter to the entity requesting that the referee not whistle the classic and that he be removed until the end of the investigations.

In his statement to the CPI, Textor cited alleged errors made by the judge in the Botafogo 1 x 2 Flamengo game, last year, also for the Brasileirão.

Also on Tuesday (23), the National Association of Football Referees (Anaf) published a note asking the CBF to paralyze the Brazilian Championship because of Textor’s complaints about the alleged misuse of VAR in certain matches last year – Abrafut ( Association of Football Referees of Brazil) spoke out, highlighting that it is the real representative of referees in the country and invited the Athletes’ Union to a joint demonstration.

Strike after ‘very strong’ evidence?

Kajuru, president of the CPI, endorsed the speech and agreed with the strike request. In contact with the report, senator Carlos Portinho, member of the commission, stated that the thought does not reverberate among the other members of the commission, considering that matches from previous competitions are being analyzed.

Still according to the parliamentarian, the evidence presented by Textor is “very strong” and should have been taken into consideration by the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD). For him, it is not correct to “kill the messenger” because this discourages the presentation of complaints, and even if the evidence presented by the owner of SAF do Botafogo does not turn into proof, the Commission could be important for the creation of new instruments to curb the manipulation of results, a problem, according to him, that is not restricted to Brazil alone. (Rodrigo Sampaio – Estadão Conteúdo)

Check out the list of those summoned by the CPI below:

• Lane Gaviolle, president of Tombense
• Getúlio Marques Castilho, president of Londrina
• Felipe Augusto Lyra Carreras, federal deputy
• Thairo Arruda, CEO of Botafogo
• SportRadar company representative
• Glauber do Amaral Cunha, former football referee
• Daiane Caroline Muniz, football referee
• Raphael Claus, football referee from the CBF
• Hélio Santos Menezes Junior, director of Governance and Compliance at CBF
• Wilson Luiz Seneme, president of the Arbitration Commission
• Eduardo Gussem, CBF Integrity Officer
• Felippe Marchetti, representative of the company SportRadar AG
• Tiago Horta Barbosa, head of Integrity for Latin America at Genius Sports
• Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, president of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance – SIGA Latin America
• José Perdiz de Jesus, president of the Superior Court of Sports Justice – STJD
• Régis Anderson Dudena, Secretary of Prizes and Bets at the Ministry of Finance
• Ronaldo Botelho Piacente, attorney general of the Superior Court of Sports Justice – STJD

Representatives of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV), Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the Brazilian Tennis Confederation (CBT), the Committee Brazilian Club Championship (CBC), the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB)

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