Textor, from Botafogo, is denounced by the STJD for not presenting evidence of manipulation

John Textor is in the sights of the Superior Court of Sports Justice. The owner of SAF do Botafogo was denounced after failing to present evidence of match-fixing in Brazilian football.

The STJD denounced the businessman in two articles. 220-A and 223, with trial scheduled for April 15th. If convicted, Textor could be suspended for up to one year and fined up to R$100,000 for each article. See below.

Article 220-A, item I: Failing to collaborate with the Sports Justice bodies and other sports authorities in investigating irregularities or disciplinary infractions. Penalty: fine of R$100 to R$100 thousand, with a fixed deadline for compliance with the obligation.

Article 223: Failure to comply with or delay compliance with a decision, resolution, sports disciplinary transaction or determination of the Sports Court. Penalty: fine of R$100 to R$100 thousand. Single paragraph. When the offender is a natural person, the penalty will be automatic suspension until the decision, resolution or determination is complied with, in addition to suspension for ninety to three hundred and sixty days and, in the event of a repeat offense, elimination.

What did Textor do?

Since Botafogo lost last year’s Brasileirão, Textor has been criticizing the integrity of Brazilian football. In March, the owner of SAF do Botafogo spoke about “arbitration corruption” in national football and cited the game between Verdão and Strengthfor the 2022 Brazilian Championship, saying that he sent evidence to the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation).

However, Textor has not yet presented concrete evidence regarding the allegations made and, given this scenario, he ended up being denounced by the STJD.

In recent days, Textor has once again hammered on the topic and said he has ‘evidence’ that the Palm trees benefited from the last two Brazilians.

According to the North American businessman and owner of SAF do Botafogo, the matches manipulated in favor of Palmeiras were the 4-0 victories over Fortaleza, on November 2, 2022, and the 5-0 victory over São Paulo, in October 2023.

Textor states that, to reach these conclusions, “great specialties and artificial intelligence” were used, which pointed out abnormal behaviors of players from Fortaleza and São Paulo in the aforementioned matches.

According to what was reported by the North American, four Fortaleza players exhibited “abnormal deviations in key situations” that ended in goals for Palmeiras. In the classic with the São Pauloaccording to Textor, there were five athletes who “exceeded the limits”.

“It must be clear that the evidence does not establish the motive, nor does it suggest that any club was responsible for the manipulation beyond the specific players identified”, describes the report presented by the owner of SAF do Botafogo this Monday.

The businessman also reports that, in the first example, between Palmeiras and Fortaleza, the CBF received two emails in May 2023 that warned of the “obvious manipulation of the game”, but did not react.

Textor also says he will not release the names of the accused players and will only present such evidence to government prosecutors and investigators.