STJD files Botafogo request regarding irregularities

The request to open an investigation by the Botafogo to investigate irregularities in the Brazilian Championship was filed, this Thursday (7), by the president of the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD), José Perdiz de Jesus.

“I don’t see the slightest legal possibilities for opening an investigation, since the reasons presented are subjective and lacking in consistency, because they are unilateral interpretations that are not relevant to the sporting reality”, stated Perdiz in the order.

“In view of the above, I order the summary filing of this request under the terms of article 83 of the CBJD, due to the absence of essential elements for the procedure. I reject the request postulated in the opening page of page 02/04, with this decision being submitted to the Full Auditors today and, by majority, Auditor Dr. Paulo Sérgio Feuz won, endorsed”, he concluded.

Botafogo sent the STJD, on Wednesday, a letter demanding action from the body regarding reports produced at the club’s request by a company that analyzes refereeing behavior and which would point to alleged losses in the results of matches in this edition of the national tournament.

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The owner of SAF do Botafogo, John Textor, hired the company “Good Game!” to evaluate the attitude of referees in Brasileirão games and detect possible result manipulations. A report was then produced that would point to Botafogo as the leader of the championship, if the referees had made decisions in favor of the club in certain games.

In the note issued, Botafogo also explored five suggestions to be adopted to improve the quality of refereeing in the Brazilian Championship: regulation of the profession of professional football referee; institutional independence between the entity that regulates professional football arbitration and the entity organizing the respective competition; technical-scientific monitoring of the moves and indicators of men’s professional football matches, with the hiring of independent audit companies, specialized in the analysis of sports data; creation of a ranking of referees based on mistakes made throughout the championship and, based on this ranking, the adoption of promotion and demotion criteria for referees; and transparency in the selection of referees for professional football matches, in addition to other measures that may be indicated.

Before knowing the STJD’s opinion, Botafogo threatened to continue the battle in the Common Court to “verify the facts narrated and contribute to the evolution of Brazilian football”.