The Department of Justice of United States revealed, this Thursday (15), a case of manipulation of results in college basketball games in the North American country and in China. In total, 26 people were accused of participating in an illegal betting scheme that would have influenced the outcome of dozens of matches between 2022 and 2025.
According to the investigation, the group combined results and adjusted players’ performance to profit from sports betting. Among those accused is former NBA player Antonio Blakeney, who allegedly acted as one of the organizers of the scheme, recruiting college athletes willing to “play below expectations” in exchange for bribes ranging between US$10,000 and US$30,000 per game.
The case involves at least 17 college players from the NCAA (North American university league) and matches from the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), in China. According to prosecutors, the fraud was planned to manipulate the difference in points (point shaving) — a practice in which results are adjusted without necessarily changing the winner, making detection difficult by authorities and bookmakers.
Investigations indicate that the group used privileged information and encrypted messaging applications to coordinate manipulations. The fraud reportedly netted those involved hundreds of thousands of dollars before it was discovered.
The Department of Justice classified the case as a threat to the integrity of sports and the betting industry, which grew rapidly in the US after legalization in several states. “Result manipulation erodes fans’ trust and compromises the spirit of competition,” said prosecutor Philip Sellinger, responsible for the case.
According to the North American channel ABC Newstwo of the players named in the indictment, Cedquavious Hunter and Dequavion Short, both from New Orleans, were disciplined in November by the NCAA for allegedly fixing game results.
“By placing these bets on games they had rigged, the defendants defrauded sportsbooks, as well as individual bettors, who were unaware that the defendants had corruptly manipulated the outcome of these games, which should have been decided fairly, based on genuine competition and the best efforts of the players,” the indictment says.
NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement that the association continues to work with police authorities to preserve the legitimacy of university sports competitions.
“The Association has and will continue to aggressively combat sports betting violations in college athletics by utilizing a multi-layered integrity monitoring program covering more than 22,000 games,” Baker said.
Fonte: Gaming365 – Brasil
