Gone are the days when football was synonymous with love for the jersey and passion for the clubs. In recent years, sport has become increasingly immersed in the world of sports betting. In this year 2023, championships such as the Brazil Cup (Betano) and the Carioca Championship (Betnacional) are being sponsored by electronic sports betting sites, another expression of the deep commercialization in which sports are found, in this case football.
By: João Pedro Andreassy Castro*
To begin to unravel the problem of how this dirty environment affects soccer, it is necessary to highlight that this is not a new or exclusive phenomenon in Brazil. Since at least mid-2007, the legendary Real Madrid of Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, Di María, Ozil, among others, already had the sponsorship of a sports betting site (Bwin). This segment of online casinos have been a great source of money since the creation and development of the internet. Bet365, for example, has been around the internet since the late 1990s and continues to move an increasing volume of money to this day.
The harmful influences of large companies in the field of games considered to be of chance are ancient. One of the most emblematic cases of the so-called match fixing (manipulation of results) was that of the Black Sox (the term refers to the name of the Chicago/USA baseball team, White Sox) and has a very important factor of schemes with big bookmakers. The scandal occurred in 1919, when eight players from the white Sox Pro Team, favorites to win the World Series, the American national baseball championship, were accused of deliberately losing the final in exchange for a bribe provided by one of the big partners in the betting business. The motivations of the players in this case were not the least bit unique, with one defendant, Eddie Cicotte, even stating, “I don’t know why I did it. He needed the money. I have a wife and children.”
In fact, the situation of the players was not comfortable at all. In addition to being undervalued (the salary the Sox paid was much lower than that paid by other teams) they were subjected to humiliating situations, for example, the team owner refusing to pay for uniform washing, forcing them, During several games, the White Sox They played with an increasingly dark white uniform, stained by sweat and dirt. When he finally relented and ordered the uniforms washed, he deducted the cost of it from the players’ wages.
Returning to soccer, as we mentioned these companies have been operating for a long time; however, starting in 2020, with the pandemic, the world of online betting took a qualitative leap. With little visibility in the eyes of the general public, they have become the main sponsors of championships, teams and even professional players. A very clear example of this is that of the player Marcelo, sponsored by the SportingBet site, while his club, Fluminense, is sponsored by Betano, and plays in the Carioca championship sponsored by Betnacional.
All this rarity is behind scandals like the one that broke out in series B of the 2022 Brazilian Championship. The case, which is being investigated by the Goiás Public Ministry, involves three players (from Vila Nova/GO, Tombense/MG and Sampaio Corrêa/ MA) who allegedly were bribed to commit maximum penalties on opposing players, during their matches in the championship. The payment would be R$ 150,000 for each person who did what was requested by an as-yet-unidentified principal. With the growing influence of sports betting sites, the trend is for other cases like this to emerge.
Since the integrity of the competitions cannot be measured with 100% confidence at any time, the competitions are left at the mercy of these sites and scandals; such as that of Serie B of the Brazilian Championship, or what happened in the Italian first division in the 04/05 season (when Juventus Turin, Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, among other teams, were involved in a results manipulation scandal known as Calciopoli); They may be becoming more common.
The insertion of this type of branch, together with the low remuneration of a large part of the players, especially in the lower divisions, are a propitious place for the creation and development of this increasingly “combined” sport. To get an idea, the average salary of a player in the third division of the elite of Brazilian soccer (Series C) is, on average, R$ 4,000. Well below the salaries in the hundreds of thousands of reais that are in the popular imagination when it comes to soccer players.
Disappointed by low wages, coupled with a proposition to earn easy money and a better life for themselves and their families, many players find themselves with no real choice. However, the ones who really benefit are the high rollers and the bookies who make a lot more from each manipulated result. Worse still is when it is perceived that none of the online betting houses that are operating are based in Brazil. This is because the law prohibits the operation of companies of this kind in the country. All the “Bets”, even those that claim to be 100% national, are based in tax havens and with little or no direct relationship with Brazil and, therefore, with regulations. This factor makes any type of operation against these companies even more difficult, both from a legal point of view and from the point of view of the bettor who would eventually be harmed by these types of sites.
It is also necessary to unravel why, from the point of view of the workers, this issue of betting does not bring any benefit. It happens that betting houses and betting sites, in general, are places designed solely and exclusively to profit from the false hopes offered to workers, leading to an illusory result in the very short term, which encourages to continue, but which eventually medium and long term takes away everything they have conquered.
Because it is a type of game that can lead to addiction, betting houses and sites become even more degenerative towards the class, taking advantage precisely of a dependency in order to extract exorbitant profits paid to shareholders. And although in Brazil this type of activity is considered illegal, the prohibition is merely illusory, since it is enough to have access to one of these sites and you can fall into that world of gambling.
In this sense, we need to raise the flag for the end of the sports betting spree in football and sports in general, thus helping to guarantee a minimum of integrity in the competitions. Also that transfers and transactions in the world of football have 100% transparency, so that we all know where and how the money moves (avoiding money laundering scandals and favoritism to businessmen, for example). Demand decent wages for athletes and guarantee fairer conditions for the professional practice of sport.
However, it must be taken into account that football, as a symbol of love, joy and determination, can only be lived in all its magnitude when it no longer suffers the pressure of the capitalist system, therefore, in another type of society. . The football of race and passion does not combine with the football of profits for managers, businessmen and bookmakers. From the moment the dirty tentacles of capitalism get their hands on this beloved sport, he stops fulfilling his mission. What we call true football is only possible under socialism!
*João Pedro is a fan of Corinthians and a militant of Youth Rebellion and PSTU Brazil.
Article published in www.pstu.org.br7/3/2023.-
Translation: Natalia Estrada.