players are not found to testify

The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Manipulation of Results summoned Eduardo Bauermann and Marcus Vinícius Alves Barreira, Romário, to testify at a hearing this Tuesday (13) in the Chamber of Deputies. However, less than 24 hours after the deposition, the two were not found.

The call-up request for the two players, both denounced in Operation Maximum Penalty, was approved by parliamentarians a week ago. Since then, they have not been located to speak before deputies. Both Bauermann and Romário were called under investigation. Therefore, they cannot refuse to testify before the Commission.

Players have the option to remain silent in the CPI. If the athletes miss the deposition, the Commission is considering asking for a coercive driving measure, an instrument that allows a person to be taken for questioning.

O Estadão found that both Bauermann and Romário did not respond to contact attempts. The CPI secretariat is still trying to contact the two. If they are not found, the legislative police will be called.

Romário’s defense told the Estadão that the player “did not receive any subpoena” to speak at the CPI, that he is unaware of the summons and that he continues to live at the same address in Goiânia. Bauermann’s defense limited itself to saying that it will manifest itself in the case file.

Bauermann and Romário have already been judged in the first instance by the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD). The Santos defender had a light sentence, so he only got 12 hook games because the complaint was disqualified by the auditors. The former athlete from Vila Nova, from Goiás, was banned from football. Both decisions can be appealed.

According to the investigation by the Goiás Public Prosecutor’s Office, Bauermann received R$50,000 for being shown a yellow card against Avai, but was not warned during the game. In conversations, the bettor criticizes the defender for not having fulfilled his part of the agreement. As he didn’t get the yellow card, he would have promised to receive a red card against Botafogo five days later.

In Rio de Janeiro, the athlete was actually expelled, but only after the final whistle, invalidating the bet. He, who remains away from Santos, was then threatened with death and extorted by the gang.

Romário was appointed by the MP as the pivot of the fraudulent scheme. According to the promoters, the athlete received money from bettors to commit a penalty in a duel with Sport, for the last round of Series B of the 2022 Brazilian Championship, but was not related to the match. Therefore, he began to look for other athletes to participate in the scheme.

OTHER GUESTS

Probably without the presence of Bauermann and Romário, the public hearing this Tuesday of the CPI will have testimonials from Ronei Ferreira de Freitas, president of the Goiás Football Federation, Cleyton Pereira dos Anjos, former president of the Union of Football Referees of Goiás, and Júlio César Garcias, president of the Union of Professional Athletes of the State of Goiás. Júlio César Motta, president of the Goiás Arbitration Commission, will not attend and explained his absence.

Parliamentarians will also vote on nine requests for calling and inviting representatives of bookmakers, even though the platforms have been treated, so far, as victims in the fraudulent scheme of manipulation of results in matches of Series A and B of the Brazilian Championship of 2022 and this year’s State.