Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Ex-Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha's current club rocked by match fixing confession

Former Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha's club have been rocked by a player's admission of match fixing.

Red Bull Bragantino defender Kevin Lomonaco confessed to being purposely booked against America in November.

Lomonaco was one of four players who confessed to the Public Ministry of Goias to have participated in a match manipulation scheme.

The crime could see offenders sentenced to six years in prison but the players involved were offered a non-prosecution agreement, UOL Sport reports.

Lomonaco was not prosecuted over the match fixing scheme and became a witness to the investigation into match fixing in Brazil.

In his confession, Lomonaco said: "I was in concentration the day before the game, I guess.

"He kept insisting, texting, saying, 'Let's close, hermano, it's money...'

"I kept talking to him at the rally, and then yes: we got a yellow card.

"But I did it without any knowledge that it was a crime or something.

"I did it like that, I didn't ask anyone anything."

The defender was reportedly set to earn R$70,000 in return for being booked in the match but was only paid R$30,000 for his role in the match manipulation scheme.

However, Lomonaco claims he was unaware what he was doing was a crime and insists he only went through with it because he didn't think his actions would have any consequence to his team.

Lomonaco said in his confession that he was approached for further involvement in conceding penalties or being sent off but said "it wasn't my intention to do that".

He added: "I did the yellow only because I thought it wasn't something that hurt the team.

"I thought it was something normal and I didn't think it was a crime, anything like that.

"It was like I said, I didn't ask anyone anything, I did it for the sake of doing it, then in a moment, it was a quick day there, just."

The Insider newsletter is the latest move by the team at the Rangers Review to bring content directly to you. We already have accounts on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tik Tok and Instagram but we will also send exclusive bespoke opinion pieces every day at 5pm direct to your email. Not only will you receive this piece from one of our team of Joshua Barrie, Derek Clark or Jonny McFarlane but you will also get our list of the best content published in the last 24 hours. It's a handy way to keep abreast of what's going on amid all the noise surrounding Scotland's most successful club. You can sign up in five seconds with just an email address here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.