SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
As the match-fixing investigation into Flamengo forward Bruno Henrique continues, his defence has now adopted a new strategy.
Henrique was indicted by Brazil’s Federal Police (FP) for alleged involvement in match-fixing after a lengthy investigation into a yellow card he received during Flamengo’s game against rivals Santos in November 2023.
The probe unearthed messages between Henrique and his brother that discussed a potential yellow card booking within that same game two months before the match took place.
Three days before Flamengo challenged Santos, there were implications that the brothers discussed the yellow card again, according to the Federal Police and media outlet Fantástico.
Alleged private messages between the player’s family, circulated by Fantástico, further hinted at Henrique’s brother opening betting accounts in his wife’s name due to his personal account being blocked.
Currently, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is looking into the matter and whether there is enough grounds to build up a legal case against Henrique.
The player’s legal team, however, is doing everything in its power to put a stop to the process before it reaches a potential judicial stage. Defence lawyer Ricardo Pieri Nunes is now arguing that there was no offence committed by Henrique, despite him admitting to intentionally receiving the card in the span of the investigation.
Nunes said that forcing a card is a legitimate practice used across the sport as part of strategic play styles, rather than being an attempt at manipulating the final outcome of the match for the benefit of third parties.
It is yet to be decided whether the investigation will escalate to a legal prosecution.
This all comes amid a nation-wide clampdown on criminal syndicates carrying out match-fixing in Brazil, initiated to protect the integrity of the country’s newly-regulated betting market, which launched at the start of the year, as well as the wider sports ecosystem.
The sports corruption purge was commissioned directly by the government with the official formation of various Parliamentary Commission of Inquiries (CPIs), with the one dealing with match-fixing directly being the CPI of Integrity, led by former Seleção legend Senator Romario.
