São Paulo, Brazil – A new football match-fixing scandal has rocked Brazil. This time, Bruno Henrique, a prominent striker of the famous Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo, is involved in a police investigation.
Another Brazilian soccer star, Lucas Paquetá, is currently under investigation for match-fixing in England.
On Tuesday, Federal Police officers, with search warrant in hand, arrived at Bruno Henrique’s opulent residence in the city and confiscated his mobile phone. Additional searches were conducted at properties linked to the player in Belo Horizonte, Vespasiano, Lagoa Santa and Ribeirão das Neves, all located in the state of Minas Gerais, where he was born.
The investigation centers on suspicions that the player intentionally received yellow and red cards during a match between Flamengo and Santos in the 31st round of the Brazilian championship, held in Brasília on November 3, 2023.
In that match, Bruno Henrique received a yellow card for a serious foul on a Santos player in the 50th minute of stoppage time. Furious, he approached referee Rafael Klein, shouting angrily until he was shown a red card and sent off.
To many fans watching the game, the incident may have seemed like a routine outburst – a common scene in the intense world of professional football. However, betting companies quickly noticed an unusual increase in bets that Bruno Henrique would receive a card during the game.
(Flamengo Instagram)
This raised suspicions at three betting firms – Betano, GaleraBET and KTO – which had observed an extraordinary number of bets in just that scenario.
Sportradar, and the International Betting Integrity Association, organizations that monitor betting activities, also reported suspicious bets to soccer’s governing body, FIFA, as well as the Brazilian Football Confederation.
According to the investigation report, some of the accounts placing the bets were recently created in the city of Belo Horizonte, some just a day before the match under suspicion. These accounts placed single bets on Bruno Henrique’s settlement. The atypical betting activity included the following amounts:
3050 R$ (528 USD) to earn 9150 R$ (1580 USD)
R$ 2,300 (USD 397) to win R$ 7,000 (USD 1,210)
1500 R$ (259 USD) to win 4550 R$ (769 USD)
Investigators found that Betano identified that 98% of bets involving player cards focused on Bruno Henrique. GaleraBet recorded 95% of bets in the same category, while KTO did not specify a percentage, but confirmed high betting volumes. The manipulation allegedly benefited the player’s friends and relatives, who were said to have been tipped off by Bruno Henrique to bet on him getting a card.
If found guilty, he could face a suspension of up to 12 games. He also faces possible criminal charges under Article 198 of Brazil’s General Sports Law, which penalizes those who accept or seek advantages to rig a match. The sentences provide for sentences ranging from two to six years in prison.
The scandal evokes memories of a similar case involving Lucas Paquetá, the West Ham midfielder and Brazil international. Paquetá is under investigation by England’s Football Association (FA) for allegedly receiving yellow cards deliberately in three Premier League matches between November 2022 and August 2023. According to sunPaquetá is expected to face trial by the FA in March 2025. If found guilty, he could face a lifetime ban from football.
(West Ham on Instagram)
