Brazilian football match-fixing scandal

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Máfia do Apito (literally meaning Whistle's Mafia), sometimes called Escândalo do Apito (meaning Whistle's Scandal), was the name given by the Brazilian press to the football match-fixing scandal denounced by Veja magazine on September 23, 2005.

Some investors, who were not related to any club, bribed referees Edílson Pereira de Carvalho (a member of the FIFA referee staff) and Paulo José Danelon to fix results according to what was determined by the betting websites Aebet and Futbet. The investors made a deal with Edílson Pereira de Carvalho to fix the results of the matches refereed by him, and then, the investors made millionnaire bets in the betting websites. [1] Edílson Pereira de Carvalho said that he agreed to receive R$10,000 (US$4,400) to fix the result of the Brazilian National Championship match between Juventude and Figueirense, and that he was paid between R$10,000 and R$15,000 per fixed match. Edílson Pereira de Carvalho said he accepted the money to fix the results only because he had a R$30,000 debt.

The eleven Brazilian National Championship matches refereed by Edílson Pereira de Carvalho were made null and void by the Supreme Court of Sporting Justice (STJD), presided by Luiz Zveiter, even though Edílson Pereira de Carvalho assured he did not fix all eleven matches. The Supreme Court decided that all eleven matches needed to be replayed. This decision was not popular among the board of directors and supporters of the harmed clubs. Five clubs, which are Ponte Preta, Santos, Internacional, Figueirense and Cruzeiro appealed the decision [2], but the decision was kept [3].

On November 28, Brazilian lawyer Luís Carlos Crema impetrated a court injunction requesting the cancellation of the decision that annulled the eleven Brazilian National Championship matches, Minister Nancy Andrighi of the Second Section of the Supreme Court of Justice rejected the demand [4].

However, another lawyer, Leandro Konrad Konflanz impetrated a lawsuit requesting the annulation of the replayed matches. If those matches are annulled, Internacional would win the competition, instead of Corinthians. The decision was that no club should be announced as champion during the dawn of Sunday December 5. CBF, ignoring the decision, on December 6, declared Corinthians as the 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro champion [5]. Judge Munira Hanna, of the First Civil Court of Porto Alegre dispatched a temporary restraining order obligating the CBF to obey that decision[6]. However, FIFA and CBF rules forbid clubs to petition regular courts of justice (courts that are not dedicated to sporting arbitration) when the claim is directly related to a match, as was the case; thus, on December 7, Internacional's chairman, Fernando Carvalho, made a request to lawyer Konflanz to withdraw the lawsuit, which he did on December 9.[7] [8]

Four Brazilian Second Division first stage matches were refereed by Paulo José Danelon. These matches were not annulled.

Paulo José Danelon and Edílson Pereira de Carvalho, together, refereed 22 Paulista Championship matches. None of these matches has been annulled, including two of them which were initially considered suspected of being fixed. Both suspected matches were refereed by Paulo José Danelon. The São Paulo Footbal Sporting Justice Court's Inquiry Court, after analysing all the 22 matches, concluded that no matches were fixed, with the exception of the two suspected matches. Even after coming to the conclusion that these two matches were fixed, the São Paulo Footbal Sporting Justice Court decided that the results should be kept.

Edílson Pereira de Carvalho was banned for life by the STJD's First Disciplinary Commission. Paulo José Danelon was removed from the referee staff of Paulista Football Federation. On 31 October 2005, the São Paulo Footbal Sporting Justice Court's First Disciplinary Commission banned for life both Edilson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo José Danelon. So, they are prohibited from refereeing Paulista football competitions matches. Both Edílson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo José Danelon face charges of fraud, conspiracy and crimes against the economy. The entrepreneur Nagib Fayad (nicknamed Gibão), suspected of commanding the gambling ring in Piracicaba was arrested on September 25.

Contents

[edit] Brazilian National Championship Matches annulled by STJD

Date Annulled Match Score Date of the
Match
Replay		 Score of the
Match
Replay
May 8 Vasco - Botafogo 0-1 October 19 1-0
July 2 Ponte Preta - São Paulo 1-0 October 19 2-0
July 16 Paysandu - Cruzeiro 1-2 October 19 4-1
July 24 Juventude - Figueirense 1-4 October 19 2-2
July 31 Santos - Corinthians 4-2 October 13 2-3
August 7 Vasco - Figueirense 2-1 October 12 3-3
August 10 Cruzeiro - Botafogo 4-1 October 12 2-2
August 14 Juventude - Fluminense 2-0 October 12 3-4
August 21 Internacional - Coritiba 3-2 October 28 3-2
September 7 São Paulo - Corinthians 3-2 October 24 1-1
September 10 Fluminense - Brasiliense 3-0 October 24 1-1

[edit] Brazilian Second Division matches refereed by Danelon

Date Match Score
May 8 Paulista - Guarani 4-0
June 10 Portuguesa - Ituano 0-4
July 9 Guarani - Santo André 2-1
August 13 Ituano - Marília 2-1

[edit] Suspected Paulista Championship matches

Date Match Score
March 13 Guarani - Atlético Sorocaba 1-1
April 3 Portuguesa Santista - União São João 0-1

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Veja a cronologia do escândalo da arbitragem
  2. ^ Recurso dos 5 clubes será julgado na próxima semana - Terra
  3. ^ STJD mantém decisão de anulação dos jogos - Terra
  4. ^ Ministra do STJ rejeita ação contra anulação dos jogos - Yahoo! (Link dead as of 15 January 2007)
  5. ^ Tevez conquista o Prêmio Craque Brasileirão 2005 - iG Último Segundo
  6. ^ Juíza proíbe CBF de proclamar Corinthians campeão - Terra
  7. ^ Presidente do Inter pede para torcedor retirar ação - Terra
  8. ^ Torcedor do Inter retira ação, e Corinthians é campeão - Terra

[edit] External links

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