May 20 – The integrity of a match reportedly played between two Brazilian clubs on March 25, and which was offered on the betting markets attracting a reported £1.4 million in wagers, is being investigated.
The game between Andraus Brasil at their home ground in Campo Largo, Parana, against Gremio Serrano, from Paraiba, supposedly took place despite football having been suspended in the region before the match was scheduled.
It appears that some form of a game took place but it was certainly not an official match and the players are unknown. More than 200 bookmakers opened betting markets for the match.
Andraus’ lawyer Marlus Dalledone is reported as saying the match did take place but has yet to provide proof. He said the match was organised so Andraus could scout players from Serrano.
Serrano’s lawyer Lucas Bezerra told The Sun newspaper that the match was played with players who were not theirs and that they did not send a team.
As football went into lockdown worldwide there have been a number of matches that have been offered on bookmaker websites but which are unclear as to whether they were actually played and if so, by who. Games in Ukraine and Russia offered to punters showed signs of match-fixing with fingers pointing at the data gatherers that feed the bookmakers sites as having been part of the fix.
It is not clear if the game supposedly played in Brazil showed signs of irregular betting patterns.
Helio Cury and Michelle Ramalho, the presidents of the Parana and Paraiba Football Federations, said an investigation would be opened.
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