Zona de Azar Brasil – Genius Sports: “Brazilian Football is a Vulnerable Target”

Brazil.- June 24, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com The head of integrity for Latin America of the British company Genius Sports, Tiago Horta Barbosa, said this Tuesday (18) to the CPI for Game Manipulation and Sports Betting that Brazilian football He is an “extremely vulnerable target” for manipulators, a situation that is aggravated by the low salaries of most athletes.

— The large number of matches played at different sporting levels creates an environment conducive to manipulation. Every match, especially those in lower divisions, represents a potential opportunity for those seeking to corrupt the sport, and Brazil is the country in which the most football matches are played in the world, Barbosa explained.

He highlighted Genius Sports’ experience with more than 160 sports leagues and federations. He added that, without advanced technological means, it would be impossible to identify situations of manipulation with a view to obtaining profits in the betting market. To do this, the company uses algorithms that cross-reference relevant information about teams, players and referees, and any alert will be analyzed by integrity experts.

—  To effectively combat corruption in sport, it is imperative that we remain vigilant and responsive to the ever-evolving tactics employed by those seeking to undermine its integrity.

The representative of Genius Sports understands that, if high-level and well-paid Brazilian players were also involved in sports fraud, less fortunate athletes may see in this practice an opportunity to “change the level” in their lives. Citing statistics, Barbosa recalled that, in international terms, the vast majority of fraud occurs in lower division tournaments, and defended education throughout the sporting field about the risks of manipulating competitions.

— Addressing the problem […] involves building integrity systems in the sporting environment that truly serve to prevent the emergence of fraud in sport, effectively detect those that still occur and, finally, provide the tools so that it can occur. a quick answer. can occur, either through severe sanctions or other means.

In response to Senator Romário (PL-RJ), CPI rapporteur, Barbosa stated that there is no problem with competing companies that serve the same entities. He recalled that both Genius Sports, which does not follow Brazilian football, and SportRadar – whose representative, Felippe Marchetti, was heard at the same CPI meeting – serve FIFA and UEFA. The deponent emphasized that, however, it is not for one company to say that the other gave a wrong opinion.

— Nothing prevents a sports entity from working with more than one monitoring company. In fact, this is FIFA’s recommendation, even to reinforce the cases of manipulation identified. Of course, it is much stronger to have two or three reports indicating that there was fraud than just one, this is positive.

Barbosa declined to comment on the case of the player Lucas Paquetá – also invited to testify at the CPI -, investigated in England on suspicion of involvement in betting schemes. But he stated that the English Federation must have great confidence in the work of its partners.

— [Paquetá] He may or may not have [committed the crime]. I really don’t have the elements to be raising any situation in relation to this.

Romário stated that the International Betting Integrity Association (Ibia), of which Genius Sports is an associate member, played a key role in the athlete’s investigation and questioned whether the Ibia model could be applied in Brazil.

—  This is natural within the regulatory process we are going through. “My understanding is that this will happen naturally, especially since the law itself requires bookmakers to be part of some integrity monitoring system,” he said.

For Barbosa, despite the efforts of Brazilian entities given the magnitude of the challenge they face, integrity work in sport in Europe has “between 10 and 15 years ahead” in relation to Brazil.

—The issue of bringing together interested parties, being able to set up a system of collaboration with public authorities, sports entities, athletes’ unions, all of that, I think they are already at a more advanced level than where we are today, but that’s not that. It means we don’t go in that direction.

Barbosa also did not comment on the statements of businessman John Textor, majority shareholder of Botafogo, about manipulation of results. He said he could not compare Good Game’s analysis methods with those of SportRadar on games contested by Textor.

Edit: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com