“Serious” suspicions: A yellow card which puts a footballer in trouble

Bruno Henrique, striker for Flamengo, Brazil’s most popular football club, was the target of a police operation on Tuesday over suspicions of rigged bets in the Brazilian first division, prosecutors told AFP. The 33-year-old is suspected of having voluntarily taken a yellow card for the benefit of punters around him.

Twelve searches were carried out in Rio de Janeiro and several towns in Minas Gerais (southeast), Bruno Henrique’s native state, during the operation which mobilized more than 50 police officers and members of the Special Security Group. action in the fight against organized crime (Gaeco), an entity of the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office. Gaeco confirmed to AFP that “Bruno Henrique is one of the targets of the operation”.

During Flamengo’s home defeat to Santos (2-1) in November 2023, the striker received a yellow card after committing a foul at the very end of the match. And he was sent off immediately for attacking the referee.

“Members of the player’s family” involved

According to the Federal Police (PF), “data obtained from betting sites” indicates that suspicious bets “would have been made by members of the player’s family and by another group which is the subject of the investigation” . Several Brazilian media report that Bruno Henrique’s brother, sister-in-law and a cousin had created accounts on betting sites on the day of the match against Santos and had bet on a yellow card from the striker.

Flamengo, a club from Rio de Janeiro, assured X that the player had “all his confidence”, while committing to “collaborate with the authorities”. Adored by supporters, Bruno Henrique, selected twice for the national team in 2019, was selected by Flamengo to face Cruzeiro on Wednesday in the league. According to the Brazilian press, agents searched his home and his room in the Flamengo training center in Rio.

Brazilian football is not its first case

Several rigged betting scandals have erupted in recent years in Brazil. In September 2023, 11 players suspended by the Brazilian Federation saw their sanction extended to the international level by Fifa. A parliamentary commission of inquiry was created to look into the matter and its president, Senator Jorge Kajuru, declared on Tuesday that Bruno Henrique would be summoned to explain these “serious” suspicions.

Brazilian international Lucas Paqueta, who plays for London club West Ham, is due to be heard in December by this committee for a similar matter being investigated by the English Premier League.