Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor continues to be the topic of a big controversy in Brazil.
The reason is recent allegations he made, claiming there’s corruption among local referees, and saying he has proof of the impact in some results.
That didn’t go down very well with some clubs. Especially with Palmeiras, who now released an official statement saying they’re suing Textor.
With the Crystal Palace shareholder saying a match between Palmeiras and Fortaleza was influenced by officials, the club now want proof of that.
‘Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras informs that it will take all appropriate legal measures – in the civil, criminal and sporting spheres – against the owner of Botafogo’s SAF, John Textor, so that he can answer for the irresponsible and frivolous statements that have repeatedly involved the name of the current two-time Brazilian champion.
‘Our 109-year history is characterised by ethics and respect for opponents and organisations. If Textor has information about the practice of illicit acts in Brazilian football, he should immediately present it to the competent bodies, including the public ones.’
When complaining about that game, Textor had made it clear that Palmeiras were not involved, though. These are quotes that UOL brings on the matter, and they weren’t enough to stop Palmeiras from suing him.
“The match-fixing report relates to a game that ended in 2022, it was a Palmeiras game. It seems that Palmeiras was not involved. It was Palmeiras vs Fortaleza. This evidence was sent to the CBF, I don’t know who was involved in this, I wasn’t involved.
“The people we are going after are not Palmeiras players. There is not one Palmeiras player involved in the manipulation of results in our polls at Palmeiras matches. There is no employee, to our knowledge, in the leadership of the institution, nor the coach, nor anyone from Palmeiras who we believe is involved.”
There’s some annoyance from local clubs about Textor has been behaving since he bought Botafogo. He’s often speaking to the press about the so-called corruption, which he wasn’t able to prove yet. He recently claimed there’s audio with some referees involved, and it was then found out that was about a lower league match.
Now with him pretty busy with those issues, Crystal Palace fans will probably be glad it’s not their club he’s causing all the controversy at.
