Foul play in Bolivian football

Shirley Pulis Xerxen September 11, 2023

The Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) has cancelled the country’s two top-flight football tournaments amid investigations into allegations of corruption and match-fixing involving referees, players and club executives. The federation has also suspended the referee’s association.

The decision to cancel the tournaments came after a meeting of a soccer council in the region of Santa Cruz, where first division clubs agreed to stop the domestic league and the National Cup. The FBF said it will ask the region’s governing body CONMEBOL to organize a quick competition until the end of December to replace the cancelled tournaments. The competition will determine the spots for the 2024 international tournaments.

The FBF also filed charges to the country’s public prosecutor’s office and fired the three members of the country’s refereeing commission.

The alleged match-fixing scheme involved at least four games in which referees allegedly favoured one team over another by awarding penalties or expelling players.

The Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) acquired a recording of Marcos Rodríguez, football club Vaca Diez president, fixing the result of a match with a referee for cash. In the recording, Rodriguez can be heard asking the referee to ensure that at least three goals are scored by one side in the first half.

Match-fixing scandal in Brazil

Brazil match-fixing scandal is a recent and ongoing investigation into a criminal organization that operated to manipulate the results of football matches in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B of the Brazilian Championship. The scandal was exposed by the Public Ministry of Goiás (MPGO) in February 2023.

The investigation has revealed evidence of wrongdoing by soccer players who allegedly made sure to get bookings and gave away penalties in exchange for bribes. The scandal has international reach, as some of the players involved have connections to clubs in other countries, such as the United States. The Brazilian authorities have launched a federal investigation into soccer match-fixing and are cooperating with foreign authorities. Brazil’s lower house of Congress has also opened a probe into the scandal.

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