President of the betting CPI, senator threatens to ban Textor from Brazilian football < In Attack

Senator Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO), president of the CPI das Apostas, stated that he has already asked in writing that the owner of Botafogo, John Textor, be banned from Brazilian football if he has no evidence to support the accusations.

Kajuru said that he has already filed an official request for Textor to be punished if he does not prove that results were manipulated. The senator made the statement this Wednesday (24) in an interview with UOL News.

In this case, the president of the CPI das Apostas will demand that he be banned from football in Brazil, not just from the command of Botafogo. The North American businessman became the majority shareholder of the club’s SAF at the beginning of 2022. Textor testified at the CPI last Monday (22/4).

“I was the only one of the 81 senators who took the stand and said, on the 1st day of the CPI, that, if there is no proof of everything that Textor brought us, that is, that he deceived us, I have already filed a project asking for the banning of Brazilian football, being expelled from Brazil, not just from Botafogo. If he is a kid, if he came to mess up Brazilian football, as the president of Palmeiras understands. I requested and filed this official request for a ban if he has no proof, if he is just a loudmouth or a braggart,” Senator Jorge Kajuru told UOL News.

The CPI is beginning its work, and Textor was the first to be heard. This Wednesday, senators approved requests to hear referee Raphael Claus (Fifa-SP) and video referee Daiane Muniz (Fifa-SP).

CPI members considered that the owner of SAF Botafogo took “indications” and not evidence regarding match manipulation, when he presented reports from the company Good Game. The company’s analysis uses artificial intelligence and compares the behavioral patterns of players on the field.

One of the games that Textor states, without additional elements, that were manipulated is Palmeiras’ 5-0 defeat of São Paulo. Textor also questions the role of refereeing, including VAR, in Brasileirão matches. But he also did not point to evidence of deviations by the referees.