A sports court in Brazil sanctioned the expulsion from the courts for the rest of his life behind the wheel Marcus Vinicius Alves ‘Romário’, the first of the Brazilian soccer players tried for participating in a network that fixed matches to favor a betting mafia.
The sentence was handed down this Monday by the First Disciplinary Commission of the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD), which also sentenced the now former soccer player and former player of the Vila Nova club to pay a fine of 25,000 reais (about $5,000).
In the same trial, the court sentenced the midfielder Gabriel Domingos, another of those accused of match-fixing and also a former Vila Nova player, to a 720-day suspension from the courts and to pay a fine of 15,000 reais (3,000 dollars). ). The first instance decision can still be appealed before the full court by the two sanctioned.
The magistrates concluded that the two Vila Nova footballers accepted bribes in exchange for forcing yellow or red cards, committing penalties or harming their teams to favor the sports betting mafia.
Romário, 21, was found guilty of violating article 242 of the Brazilian Code of Sports Justice, which prohibits soccer players from “giving or promising any undue advantage to any athlete to influence the outcome of a match or the equivalent.” His partner, on the other hand, was sentenced for violating article 243, which prohibits “deliberately acting in a way that is detrimental to the team he defends.”
While Romário was sentenced for offering bribes to his colleagues, that is, for actively participating in the criminal network as an inducer, Domingos was sentenced for accepting one of those proposals.
The court’s decision met the expectation of the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Ednaldo Rodrigues, who defends that players whose participation in fraud is “proven” are expelled forever from the discipline.
Frauds in at least 13 games
Romário and Domingos were the first footballers to be tried in Brazil by the results manipulation network discovered in recent months and which is suspected of committing fraud in at least 13 football matches played since last year, including 8 in the first division league.
The Goiás state prosecutor’s office has already filed charges against 16 people, including 7 soccer players, who are suspected of collecting bribes of up to $20,000 in exchange for the irregularities. However, documents leaked by the press indicate that there are fifty players who have been cited in the investigations.
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