But Referee
25 Sep 2005, 07:53 PM
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-brazilmatchfixing&prov=reuters&type=lgns
Brazilian ref arrested over alleged match-fixing
(Updates with arrest, adds detail, byline)
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A Brazilian referee was arrested on Saturday over allegations that he was involved in a match-fixing scheme which affected games in this year's national championship, a police spokesman said.
Edilson Pereira de Carvalho, also a FIFA referee, was arrested by federal police in his hometown Jacarei in the state of Sao Paulo following allegations he accepted bribes from an illegal Internet gambling ring to fix matches, the spokesman added.
Television pictures showed Carvalho being taken in handcuffs to federal police headquarters in Sao Paulo.
Carvalho was also suspended by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), along with Paulo Jose Danelon, after allegations which were published by the weekly news magazine Veja.
Carvalho has refereed 11 matches in this year's Brazilian championship.
"In view of the serious allegations published by the media ... Edilson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo Jose Danelon, mentioned in the reports as part of an alleged scheme for manipulating results in the Brazilian championship, have been removed from the list of national referees," said a CBF statement.
The CBF, which plans to set up a commission to investigate, added that CBF president Ricardo Teixeira would travel to the Zurich headquarters of soccer's governing body FIFA on Monday to ask for Carvalho to be suspended internationally.
Public prosecutors said businessman Nagib Fayad was also arrested on Saturday, accused of belonging to a gambling ring based in Sao Paulo and the provincial city of Piracicaba.
Roberto Porto, of the public prosecutors' office in Sao Paulo, said Carvalho sometimes negotiated with the gambling ring minutes before kickoff.
"Sometimes, they settled on the price before the game with the referee in the dressing-room," he told a media conference.
Porto added that each match day the gambling ring moved between $87,300 and $174,600 while Carvalho received around $4,366 per game.
Figueirense president Norton Flors Doppre, whose team's 2-1 defeat to Vasco and 4-1 win to Figueirense are on the list of 11 suspect matches, said: "From the start of the championship, we suspected something different was happening."
The championship continued as normal on Saturday amid speculation that the 11 games refereed by Carvalho would have to be replayed. The Estado news agency quoted Teixeira as saying he was against the idea of halting the competition. (Additional reporting by Andrei Khalip in Rio de Janeiro)
Follow up
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-matchfixing&prov=reuters&type=lgns
Brazilians resigned to new match-fixing scandal
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian football's latest match-fixing scandal has been greeted by anger but little surprise.
The affair, threatening the credibility of the Brazilian championship, blew up on Saturday when referee Edilson Pereira de Carvalho was arrested at his home in the provincial town of Jacerei.
Police swooped after the weekly news magazine Veja alleged that Carvalho, a FIFA referee, had accepted bribes to fix results from an illegal gambling ring.
Carvalho, who has been suspended by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), has refereed eleven first division matches in this year's Brazilian championship. They could all be declared void.
"As we're talking about Brazil, this doesn't surprise me," said Fluminense coach Abel Braga, whose team lost 2-0 to Juventude in a match refereed by Carvalho on August 14.
"It's a reflection of the country. Now this has come to light, we can understand how some results happened. Against Juventude, he awarded them a non-existent penalty and gave two absurd offsides.
"As soon as I get a good offer, I'm leaving Brazil."
Some struggling clubs have called for relegation -- which has only become a regular feature of the Brazilian championship in the last three seasons -- to be scrapped this year.
"If, in December, we end up getting relegated, we're going to take the matter to the sporting tribunals and fight for our rights," said Figueirense president Norton Doppre, whose team are 21st out of 22.
SIMPLE MISTAKES
"At first, I thought they were just mistakes against our team. Now, we see they were not just simple mistakes."
Figueirense took part in two matches refereed by Carvalho - a 2-1 defeat against Vasco da Gama and a 4-1 win at Juventude.
The scandal was the third in recent years.
In 1994, Wagner Canazaro was banned for one year for attempting to influence results when head of the Rio de Janeiro football federation's refereeing department.
In 1997, Ivens Mendes, head of the CBF refereeing department, resigned amid allegations he had offered to ask a referee to give Atletico Paranaense a helping hand in a Copa Brasil match in exchange for 25,000 Real ($23,600).
Football writer Fernando Calazans called for an overhaul of the refereeing set-up. "What about taking this chance to sort out the CBF's out-dated refereeing department?" he said.
Brazilian ref arrested over alleged match-fixing
(Updates with arrest, adds detail, byline)
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A Brazilian referee was arrested on Saturday over allegations that he was involved in a match-fixing scheme which affected games in this year's national championship, a police spokesman said.
Edilson Pereira de Carvalho, also a FIFA referee, was arrested by federal police in his hometown Jacarei in the state of Sao Paulo following allegations he accepted bribes from an illegal Internet gambling ring to fix matches, the spokesman added.
Television pictures showed Carvalho being taken in handcuffs to federal police headquarters in Sao Paulo.
Carvalho was also suspended by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), along with Paulo Jose Danelon, after allegations which were published by the weekly news magazine Veja.
Carvalho has refereed 11 matches in this year's Brazilian championship.
"In view of the serious allegations published by the media ... Edilson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo Jose Danelon, mentioned in the reports as part of an alleged scheme for manipulating results in the Brazilian championship, have been removed from the list of national referees," said a CBF statement.
The CBF, which plans to set up a commission to investigate, added that CBF president Ricardo Teixeira would travel to the Zurich headquarters of soccer's governing body FIFA on Monday to ask for Carvalho to be suspended internationally.
Public prosecutors said businessman Nagib Fayad was also arrested on Saturday, accused of belonging to a gambling ring based in Sao Paulo and the provincial city of Piracicaba.
Roberto Porto, of the public prosecutors' office in Sao Paulo, said Carvalho sometimes negotiated with the gambling ring minutes before kickoff.
"Sometimes, they settled on the price before the game with the referee in the dressing-room," he told a media conference.
Porto added that each match day the gambling ring moved between $87,300 and $174,600 while Carvalho received around $4,366 per game.
Figueirense president Norton Flors Doppre, whose team's 2-1 defeat to Vasco and 4-1 win to Figueirense are on the list of 11 suspect matches, said: "From the start of the championship, we suspected something different was happening."
The championship continued as normal on Saturday amid speculation that the 11 games refereed by Carvalho would have to be replayed. The Estado news agency quoted Teixeira as saying he was against the idea of halting the competition. (Additional reporting by Andrei Khalip in Rio de Janeiro)
Follow up
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-matchfixing&prov=reuters&type=lgns
Brazilians resigned to new match-fixing scandal
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian football's latest match-fixing scandal has been greeted by anger but little surprise.
The affair, threatening the credibility of the Brazilian championship, blew up on Saturday when referee Edilson Pereira de Carvalho was arrested at his home in the provincial town of Jacerei.
Police swooped after the weekly news magazine Veja alleged that Carvalho, a FIFA referee, had accepted bribes to fix results from an illegal gambling ring.
Carvalho, who has been suspended by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), has refereed eleven first division matches in this year's Brazilian championship. They could all be declared void.
"As we're talking about Brazil, this doesn't surprise me," said Fluminense coach Abel Braga, whose team lost 2-0 to Juventude in a match refereed by Carvalho on August 14.
"It's a reflection of the country. Now this has come to light, we can understand how some results happened. Against Juventude, he awarded them a non-existent penalty and gave two absurd offsides.
"As soon as I get a good offer, I'm leaving Brazil."
Some struggling clubs have called for relegation -- which has only become a regular feature of the Brazilian championship in the last three seasons -- to be scrapped this year.
"If, in December, we end up getting relegated, we're going to take the matter to the sporting tribunals and fight for our rights," said Figueirense president Norton Doppre, whose team are 21st out of 22.
SIMPLE MISTAKES
"At first, I thought they were just mistakes against our team. Now, we see they were not just simple mistakes."
Figueirense took part in two matches refereed by Carvalho - a 2-1 defeat against Vasco da Gama and a 4-1 win at Juventude.
The scandal was the third in recent years.
In 1994, Wagner Canazaro was banned for one year for attempting to influence results when head of the Rio de Janeiro football federation's refereeing department.
In 1997, Ivens Mendes, head of the CBF refereeing department, resigned amid allegations he had offered to ask a referee to give Atletico Paranaense a helping hand in a Copa Brasil match in exchange for 25,000 Real ($23,600).
Football writer Fernando Calazans called for an overhaul of the refereeing set-up. "What about taking this chance to sort out the CBF's out-dated refereeing department?" he said.