Brazil's football season has been thrown into confusion following the arrest of a senior referee. The referee is accused of helping to arrange matches as part of an illegal betting ring.
This report from Steve Kingstone:
Over several months the Brazilian police secretly recorded the phone conversations of forty-three year-old Edilson Pereira de Carvalho. The allegation is that he received instructions on how to referee First Division matches from participants in an illegal internet betting ring.
It's claimed that sometimes those instructions would come just moments before kick-off. Mr. Carvalho would then favour one team or the other, allegedly for a fee of between four and six thousand dollars per game. The official has now been questioned by the police and suspended from his duties, along with a second referee accused of fixing lower division matches. On Sunday the Brazilian authorities wrote to football's world governing body, FIFA, recommending that Mr. Carvalho also be suspended as an approved international referee.
With Brazil already two thirds of the way through its football season, there's now heated debate about what the authorities should do next. The eleven games refereed by Mr. Carvalho will almost certainly have to be replayed and amid claims of more widespread match fixing, the Brazilian Football Confederation has promised an independent inquiry.
Steve Kingstone, BBC NEWS, Sao Paulo
allegation
acusación, en este caso significa una afirmación formulada sin pruebas
betting ring
una red de apostadores
favour one team or the other
favorece a un equipo o a otro
allegedly
significa 'supuestamente' o 'según se afirma'
suspended from his duties
suspendido de sus funciones
fixing
en este caso quiere decir que ellos manipularon los resultados para favorecer sus intereses
heated debate
una acalorada discusión
amid claims of more widespread match fixing
en este caso significa que cada vez hay más acusasiones de que los resultados de los partidos se arreglan deshonestamente
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