Seneme denies links between referees and match-fixing scheme

Invited by four different deputies to testify at the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Manipulation of Resultswhich is trying to retrace the steps of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Wilson Luiz Seneme, president of the CBF Arbitration Commission, denied any type of connection between Brazilian referees and the mafia accused of manipulating games in Series A and B of the Brazilian Championship, as well as matches of States.

“I couldn’t, with all my experience in football and in refereeing, detect any aspect that could, during the plays that took place, give us some basis of element or for the referee to have reported in a summary or any other response to the court that was not the one that they fulfilled the rules of the game”, explained Seneme.

At the first meeting of the CPI after the extension of the commission’s term for another 60 days, Seneme stated that he had not received any information about a connection between referees and bettors who rig the results of football matches. “If I had received it, I would have already gone to the Public Ministry.”

Seneme testified in the Chamber in a hearing this Tuesday, 22, because the parliamentarians considered that he could contribute with “illuminating information and relevant facts for the ongoing investigations”, as one of the requests says.

Seneme explained that the cases of match fixing did not make the CBF change the protocol on the behavior of referees because the judges already follow a cautious schedule that, according to him, prohibits the professional from getting involved with betting schemes or other illegal schemes.

“We have weekly meetings with more than 800 professionals to discuss the precautions that referees must follow, ways to preserve themselves, including in a family context, on arrival at stadiums, during travels”, said the head of CBF refereeing.

Seneme said that the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) asked the CBF for all the audio and video of the video referee of all matches in series A and B of the Brazilian Championship. The material, according to him, was sent.

The CPI on Manipulation of Results resumes work this Wednesday. Parliamentarians will hear the player Nino Paraíba, suspended by the STJD for involvement in match manipulation last year.

Currently at Paysandu, right-back Nino P received money to take a yellow card in three matches in the 2022 Brasileirão, when he defended Ceará, against Flamengo, São Paulo and Cuiabá. He made an agreement with the MP-GO, was not denounced and became a witness.