The scandal over bribery from bookmakers also shakes Argentine players

The online betting corruption scandal that is shaking Brazilian soccer is beginning to worry Argentine soccer. In the neighboring country, eight players from different first division clubs were found guilty of manipulating gambling actions in exchange for money. Among them is the Argentine Kevin Lomónaco, who admitted having deliberately received a reprimand in exchange for 70,000 reais (approximately 13,000 dollars), of which he says he received only 30% and for which he was severely sanctioned. It is expected that as a result of this scandal, the Brazilian Congress will introduce a stricter regulatory framework for online gambling activity this year.

In any case, although the focuses are on the higher categories, according to experts on the subject, the lower categories tend to be more permeable to this type of situation, due to the economic deficiencies of the players. The journalist specializing in match bribery by the bookmaker network, the Canadian Declan Hill, assures that “Brazil and Argentina have been a good mine for match fixers, especially level 2 (for Promotion) and below. ”.

Latin America is today one of the main markets for betting houses, more permeable legislation and soccer with a large international audience but more permeable and cheap to corrupt make soccer in this part of the world a more than tempting market.

Hill explains why the minor categories are more permeable to fixing: “The footballers, coaches and referees don’t earn a lot of money. There is a rule to predict the arrangement. You can predict the relative risk of match-fixing by dividing the total amount of bets placed on a league or team by the average player salary. For example, in Uganda, soccer players are lucky enough to get $2 per game. Ten years ago, that was not a problem. However, now that the international gambling market has discovered Ugandan soccer, there are huge amounts of fixing. The same thing happens with the Ascent in Argentina”.

The cases in Argentina. It was during the promotion where the greatest number of corruption episodes due to gambling were detected up to now. Just remember the cases of El Porvenir, Villa Dálmine or Puerto Nuevo, where the same players admitted that they were tempted with money to “go back” in a certain match.

The case of El Porvenir was one of the most emblematic since a bookmaker was a kind of manager of the club at that time. The event ended with seven players sent off and caused an earthquake in the leadership of Gerli’s club.

Sports betting has been legal in the country since the end of 2021 and sooner than later the first suspicions began to appear for clubs or players allegedly involved in this type of business.

Although there are several complex cases, the most resonant is that of Milton Leyendecker, a footballer sent off 8 minutes into a match. In a confrontation between Agropecuario and Boca for the Argentine Cup, the defender violently hit Exequiel Zeballos, Xeneize striker. Immediately afterwards, the suspicions began for such an early expulsion in a game like this. After the departure of the striker from Boca and the confirmation of his injury, a fracture in the back of the tibia, doubts grew.

dirty laundry The Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires governments agreed to grant 15-year licenses to multinationals that had to associate with local operators to operate in their territories. There are already more than 150 bookmakers registered for the activity, although not all of them are active.

Today it is impossible to watch an Argentine soccer game without a speaker or commentator who advises the viewer to show what they know by betting online. The amount of money that the bookmakers distribute to the clubs to put their logos on the shirts is also notable. Although the sponsorship does not stay in the jackets of the big clubs: Bplay sponsors the Professional League and BetWarrior the Argentine National Team.