What Game Is This: We Need to Talk About the Yellow Card
What do the suspected cases of match-fixing involving Bruno Henrique (Flamengo), Luiz Henrique (Zenit), and Lucas Paquetá (West Ham) have in common? Beyond the shock they cause, they all arose against the backdrop of yellow cards. Added to the fact that the vast majority of cases in the scandal investigated by the Goiás Public Prosecutor's Office in 2023 also involved this type of betting, it's not difficult to conclude what the easiest way to rig a football match is nowadays, notes Thales Machado in his column on Globo Online.
Originating in the 1970 World Cup to warn players before a possible expulsion from the game, the yellow card is now a victim of something ineffable: betting is changing the way football is viewed. And there's not much that can be done to remedy it. However, we cannot fail to vaccinate the game so that this reality does not change the way football is played. And police investigations, journalistic reports, and legal complaints are showing a virus that has already spread.
Here's my point: the country has discussed – and continues to debate – the regulation of sports betting, but the focus has been on taxation, legalization, and other bureaucratic aspects. Wouldn't it be better to also protect the game itself, considering how to prevent such cases? Of course, the principles to prevent manipulation should be common sense and honesty, but given the scarcity of such virtues in these times, isn't it healthier to simply prohibit this specific type of gambling?
In the new reality of football dominated by betting, receiving a yellow card is the most individual action and the least damaging to the collective nature of the sport. It can be deliberately given by a single player without necessarily harming the group. Its manipulation can be discreet, and its effects imperceptible to the outcome of a match. But a mere yellow card, which doesn't even need to be mentioned in a match report, can generate millions in the world of betting. Depending on the game and the context, it can be more important for a bet than for the sport itself.
And that's why this type of bet is the one that most appeals to bookmakers, relatives of athletes, and the players themselves. Easy to make, difficult to prove. Letting bets run rampant only on the yellow card market is bad for football, that's already been proven. And with the widespread availability of other types of bets, it wouldn't significantly reduce the profits of the bookmakers, who also benefit from a safer game.
Other challenges would arise, of course. We've lived in Brazil long enough to understand that criminals find loopholes in illegality wherever a hole is plugged. But something needs to be done, not as a definitive solution, and beyond prevention. Cases like those of Paquetá, Luiz Henrique, and Bruno Henrique are in the spotlight because the players are at the top of the pyramid. And it's from this tip of the iceberg that the message comes that the game is contaminated.
