A refereeing scandal is exploding in Brazilian football, after a businessman testified in a video conference before the Federal Senate the match-fixing plot that spreads throughout the neighboring country. He even spoke of two Colombian referees who would work for said network.
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William Rogatto declared this Tuesday before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) being accused of manipulation and fraud in games of chance and sports betting. In his energetic testimony, he criticized two Colombian Professional Soccer referees when explaining how he agreed on payments.
“Nowadays, a referee earns around Rs 7,000 per match. I paid him 50,000 rupees. Don’t you think it’s strange that the referee goes to the VAR and calls a penalty, even though the VAR is speaking? I just played the game. Colombia, in the first division, I have here a video of two referees who worked in Colombia, the referee will receive 6,000 dollars with your responsibility… Of course, I will appeal to him: well, give him a card and I will give you 50,000 rupees,” Rogatto said.
Rogatto talked about relegation fixing
The accused businessman called himself ‘The King of descent’ since he has the possibility of manipulating the games by having direct contact with the referees and admitted that rigging was carried out in 26 units of the federation and federal districts.
“I put 42 teams in the major leagues and I’m known as the king of the underdogs, but you can’t make money without putting them in the leagues. I don’t kill anyone, I don’t steal from anyone. The system is defective. I’m going against the system. “Build me a car, I found the gap,” said the businessman.
The biggest hypocrisy in the world is to have a football club today and be sponsored by a betting house
“The system goes much further than that, the greats will never fall. We are talking from within the CBF, from within the federations, I have evidence and videos. This will lead to nothing, they will be victims of the system and in the end it will not end because it is not happening now. This has existed for more than 40 years, I was part of the system. If I have to pay, I will go back to Brazil and pay. I am just a tool, the world of football is much more than we think. Nothing will come of this, we will overcome it, this will never end, the biggest mafia is within the federation,” he added.
The accused businessman also pointed out the link that the teams have with the betting houses that sponsor them and that see the players as profit numbers.
“The biggest hypocrisy in the world is to have a football club today and be sponsored by a betting house. When a bet sponsors your club, the player automatically becomes a bet, they do not receive a living wage and the bet comes and provides support. Let’s fight for power. Unfortunately, I lost and was exposed. Today, in Candangão football, there is a guy who is powerful and has three clubs. This is already manipulation, it started badly. The system goes far beyond what we are doing here. “They confiscated my things, they caught me in 2020, the system could end me, but it won’t end it,” he said.
The scandal over possible bet-fixing came to light after John Textor, owner of Botafogo, made a serious complaint about possible match-fixing in the Brazilian championship.
Rogatto He stated that Textor “is not crazy” after the public complaints he made a few weeks ago. “You talked about John Textor,” one of the senators asked him. “No? I don’t know what John Textor’s argument is, okay? But I can tell you one thing: the people who worked for me also worked against him in this championship, and people say no.”
In addition, it left in the air the participation of three Brazilian giants in this match-fixing network. “There is Layla Pereira (president of Palmeiras),” they asked in the Senate. “I never want to confront you, I’m not going to say if you did it or not, okay? But I assure you that John Textor is not entirely wrong. But anyway, this is just so you understand the dimensions of football. Does he understand? What people call crazy is not so crazy,” said William Rogatto in his long testimony.
HAROLD YEPES
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