On Thursday (10th), Cruzeiro held a lecture for athletes, staff, and collaborators about integrity in football and sports betting at Toca da Raposa. The presentation was given by lawyer Mariana Chamelette, vice-president of the Brazilian Institute of Sports Law (IBDD) and prosecutor at the Sports Justice Court of São Paulo. The fight against result manipulation and the most common forms of enticement were at the center of the discussions.
“I was very happy to, once again, be at Tocas 1 and 2 and to deliver another project. Now, updating the Code of Ethics and the policies that I had the opportunity, almost two years ago, to help build”, stated lawyer Mariana Chamelette after the event.
The fight against result manipulation in sports has been the theme of various lectures and meetings held by sports entities, clubs, and associations, aiming to ensure integrity and mitigate the proliferation of illicit acts that tarnish sports.
The debate at Cruzeiro was very enriching to clarify doubts about the topics and to reinforce the importance of maintaining honesty in the sports field. The methods of enticing athletes aiming at result manipulation and the damages caused to unpredictability were some of the topics discussed, as well as the encouragement for athletes to report any type of approach.
One of the main promoters of the lecture was lawyer Marina Drummond Machado, a specialist in governance and compliance at Cruzeiro. The club has been encouraging the debate on fighting result manipulation for more than two years, when it began promoting meetings of athletes and technical commissions with experts in the field.
Discussions like those that took place at the meeting reinforce the importance of presenting to the sports ecosystem the most important information about the dangers and consequences of result manipulation with a view to shady benefits in sports betting.
By raising awareness among athletes and emphasizing the need to ensure integrity in sports, the sports community feels encouraged to make ethical decisions and refuse illicit approaches.
The sports betting market has been promoting education as one of the main ways to combat result manipulation. Companies like Sportradar and Genius Sports, specialized in the topic, have been some of the most involved players in enlightening athletes about the harms of match-fixing.
Entities such as the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), which operates globally, and the Brazilian Association for Sports Integrity Defense (Abradie) have also been very present in disseminating policies to ensure that sports are not tarnished.
The issue gained national prominence with the Maximum Penalty operation, by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Goiás, which led to the creation of CPIs in the National Congress to investigate the action of criminals and the involvement of athletes in result manipulation in football.
At no point was it proven the involvement of sports betting houses in the criminal practice and that they are also harmed by the illegality, since they are forced to pay prizes out of the reality of what would be in a clean bet.
Source: GMB
