A club that will compete in the Série C of the Campeonato Carioca, which is equivalent to the fifth division of football in Rio de Janeiro, has made a request for its matches not to be included on sports betting platforms.
The club in question is Barra Mansa, which sent this request on Friday (1st) to the National Secretariat for Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sport (SNAEDE).
The move comes two days before Leão do Sul’s debut in Série C against Campos. The match will be played at the rival’s home ground, Aryzão.
The club is playing in the competition after having been relegated by Ferj, the Rio de Janeiro Football Federation, over suspicions of match-fixing during Série B2, last year’s fourth division.
One of the arguments used by Barra Mansa points to the "unauthorized use of the club’s brand, name, and other institutional elements by companies in the sector, without any kind of authorization.”
It also argues that "the competitions in which it participates do not have any incentive, sponsorship, or connection with betting companies, and there is therefore no justification for including its matches on these platforms.”
There is also a passage stating that being present on betting platforms brings no benefit to the club and "may harm its image, as well as its athletes and professionals.”
Tigres do Brasil, Búzios, Brescia, CAAC Brasil, Mageense, Uni Souza, Cardoso Moreira, União Central, Itaboraí Profute, Rio Barra, Barcelona, Ceres, Vera Cruz, and Independente are the other teams in the fifth division of the Carioca.
Tigres, in 2009 and 2010, and Cardoso Moreira, in 2008, have already played in the top flight.
Suspension before the drop
Barra Mansa’s 2-1 defeat to Paraty in the eighth round of last year’s Série B came under Ferj’s scrutiny, as it investigated the volume of bets placed with the assistance of the company Sportradar.
At first, Ferj only suspended the club after indicating the existence of "clear and compelling evidence that the course or result of the match was illegally altered or falsified with the aim of obtaining illicit financial gains.”
The following month, in November, the club was ultimately relegated. It even threatened to take the matter to the ordinary courts over the decision, but did not pursue the case further.
Then, in February of this year, a club official allegedly involved in the case was suspended for 360 days and also fined R$ 50,000 by the Rio de Janeiro Sports Court (TJD-RJ).
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
