It’s something that has never really reached Major League Soccer before but on Wednesday, Brazilian state prosecutors charged 16 individuals, including seven professional soccer players, with alleged match-fixing and illegal betting. Brazil has legalized sports betting since 2018 after an almost 10-year debate over its legalization.
According to Reuters, “a criminal gang paid players to commit infractions, and would then bet on such outcomes to win payouts when the offenses occurred.” Players would be paid $100,000 upfront to partake in the fixing and the clubs involved include Santos, Juventude, Cuiaba, Cruzeiro, Athletico Paranaense, Internacional and Fluminense, and reached as far as Major League Soccer and the Colorado Rapids.
The player in question is midfielder Max who arrived at the Rapids in 2022 and played in 26 games that season. The other former MLS player involved is former Houston Dynamo defender Zeca who, according to the investigators, texted the organization over fixing a match on October 8, 2022 — the final day of the regular season in MLS.
Colorado Rapids remove Max from all team activities
Both the Rapids and MLS issued statements that the league is conducting their own investigation into the matter and that Max has been removed from all team activities until the charges are either confirmed or cleared.
Max has played a total of 38 games for the Rapids and the foul in question was a yellow card against the LA Galaxy last season, Max fouls the club’s biggest star Chicharito Hernández, although the play does not seem blatant.