A professional soccer player has been suspended over allegations of prohibited legal sports betting.
Colorado Rapids midfielder Max Alves has been suspended by the team while the Brazil native is under investigation by MLS over allegations of illegal use of online sports betting sites.
“We are aware of the reports regarding a Colorado Rapids player in connection with unlawful sports gambling,” said the team in a statement. “We take matters of this nature seriously and seek at all times to protect the integrity of the game.”
The probe into Alves comes after Brazil prosecutors charged 16 people, including other professional soccer players, for alleged match-fixing. The alleged scheme involved 13 matches in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and Série B — Brazil’s top-flight professional soccer leagues.
According to charging documents, players were paid by a criminal organization to commit infractions during gameplay. The organization would offer players payments of up to $100,000 for committing the infractions that they had placed wagers on. Alves was allegedly paid around $12,000 to receive a yellow card during a match against the LA Galaxy in September 2022.
MLS’ investigation into Alves also includes another former player of the soccer league.
Nothing new
Alleged unlawful betting and match-fixing have been issues soccer leagues across the world have been combating.
In 2022, Sportradar detected 1,212 suspicious matches in 12 different sports. Soccer led the group with 775 suspicious matches last year, up from 695 in 2021. Despite the uptick, over 99.5% of all sporting events are free from match-fixing, per Sportradar.
Widespread issue
MLS isn’t the only entity dealing with concerns regarding the integrity of athletes and leagues. In April, the NFL suspended five players for violating the league’s gambling policy. The players, which included members of the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders, were suspended for betting on NFL games in 2022 and for wagering from an NFL facility on non-league games.
Earlier this month, gambling regulators in Ohio ordered the state’s sportsbooks to suspend wagering on Alabama college baseball games following a suspicious in-person bet. The wager was flagged by the U.S. Integrity monitoring service leading to an investigation into Alabama baseball. As a result of the probe, the university fired head baseball coach Brad Bohannon.
The University of Iowa and Iowa State baseball programs are also under fire after the state’s Racing and Gaming Commission launched an investigation into alleged unlawful sports wagering by more than 40 current athletes and one employee across the two institutions. The ongoing investigation is centered on the use of online betting sites at Iowa and Iowa State.
