Brazil will launch a national investigation into soccer match-fixing and the probe could have “international repercussions,” Justice Minister Flavio Dino said Wednesday.
Dino’s announcement follows a request from the Brazilian country’s soccer confederation amid a sprawling state investigation that led local clubs and Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids to suspend several footballers from its activities.
The probe of the state of Goias initially targeted matches from last season in Brazil’s top flight, but has expanded into second-division matches. Prose-cutors said some of the athletes were paid between 50,000 and 100,000 Brazilian reals ($10,000 to $20,000) to get booked or give penalties to their rivals.
Brazil’s justice minister said on Twitter that the country’s federal police will open a probe “due to the evidence of match-fixing in sports events, with inter-state and international repercussions.”
After Dino’s announcement, MLS said in a statement that one player it did not identify had been suspended from club activities due to reports on his alleged involvement with unlawful sports gambling.
The decision came hours after newspaper O Globo reported that Brazilian midfielder Max Alves of the Colorado Rapids had been named in the probe. —APP
