The Santos club has terminated the contract of one of its players, Eduardo Bauermann, involved in a match-fixing scandal that is rocking Brazilian football, the club said on Thursday. The 27-year-old defender signed the termination of his contract “by mutual agreement with Santos”, which is known to be the former club of Pelé and Neymar.
Bauermann is the subject of an investigation by the justice of the state of Goias (central Brazil) which uncovered in November a criminal organization dedicated to the fixing of first and second division football matches.
The gang had bribed players from teams like Santos, Red Bull Bragantino or Cuiaba by giving them money to perform certain in-game facts, such as receiving a yellow or red card, on which bets were placed.
Earlier this month, Bauermann was suspended for twelve matches by the sporting authorities but he escaped a life ban from football because he ultimately did not agree to do what was asked of him by the fraudsters and returned the money.
The defender promised to receive a red card and then a yellow in two matches against Botafogo and Avai in November 2022, but did not comply. He had not played with Santos since May, the club having suspended him preventively.
“I would like to apologize to the club, my teammates and the supporters,” he said in a video posted on Wednesday. “I am the most penalized, even in repentance and without having done anything that I was offered to do to harm my team”, he underlined. According to the press, he could continue his career in Türkiye.
According to the Public Ministry of Goias, at least fifteen matches were fixed, including eight in the first division, last year. Twenty-five people are targeted by justice, including 15 footballers.