The Senate of Brazil approved this Wednesday the creation of a commission that will investigate the scandal unleashed by the alleged manipulation of results in footballto favor mafias that operate in the sports bets.
The parliamentary commission will have as rapporteur senator and former soccer player Romario and will have powers to call the representatives of football clubs and anyone involved in the scandal.
Romário stated that the commission intends “open the black boxes of the betting houses” to know what type of manipulation there has been and identify the authors.
In the request for the creation of the commission, Romário cited a report that identified 109 matches with suspected manipulation held in Brazil in 2023.
The commission must hold its first session next week and intends to call the Botafogo president, John Textor, who claims to have evidence of match manipulation in last year’s league.
The results manipulation scandal is also being investigated by Justice and so far there are seven footballers charged with allegedly having rigged results in at least 13 football matches, including eight in the First Division league.
Last year, the Chamber of Deputies created a similar investigative commission, but after four months of work it was falsely closed, without getting a report with recommendations signed.
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