Fixing Scandal -- The Brazilian Football Confederation has suspended a second referee involved in a match fixing scandal. Paulo Jose Danelon has confessed to fixing three matches in exchange for about US$4,400 per game. The more prominent referee involved in the scandal, Edilson Pereira de Carvalho, has been suspended by both the Brazilian Football Confederation and FIFA. Carvalho is well known in the sport for kissing his yellow cards and looking to the sky and praying before matches. Both Carvalho and businessman Nagib Fayad, who is Carvalho's alleged contact in the betting ring, were released from police custody Thursday morning. Prosecutors claim that when Carvalho would learn what matches he was to officiate, he would call Fayad and offer to fix the result, sometimes less than an hour before kickoff. All three of the men face charges of fraud, conspiracy and crimes against the economy. Some or all of the 11 matches refereed by Carvalho may have to be replayed as a result of the scandal,
Cantor Casino -- Financial brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald has announced the launch of Cantor Casino, an online casino site that is the first product of its newly formed Cantor Gaming division, which plans to develop and operate online and mobile casinos on behalf of a range of companies in consumer-related sectors in the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Cantor Gaming will not accept casino customers from the United States because it wishes to remain in line with the U.S. Department of Justice's position on remote gambling. The company stated, "This policy should enable companies who are cautious of acting contrary to the Department of Justice's position to offer an online casino to their client base via Cantor Gaming's 'white label' solution."
Battle in Argentina -- Yogonet.com reports that the Argentine Football Association (Asociación del Fútbol Argentino- AFA) is exploring ways to prevent one of Sportingbet's Spanish-language betting sites--Miapuesta.com--from offering wagers on Argentine football. The AFA, which owns the rights to the Apertura Tournament, claims that Miapuesta is using the rights without permission. The AFA also worries that Miapuesta will become a direct a competitor to football betting game PRODE, which is operated by the National Lottery, the only body authorized by Argentine laws to operate football betting. The AFA has asked the National Lottery to initiate legal proceedings against Miapuesta, which began accepting wagers on Argentine football just last week.
Tanzanian Mobile Lott -- Selcom Gaming, the lottery provider of Tanzania, has partnered with lotteries provider Openlot Systems to launch a mobile lottery that offers both numbers games and sports betting via SMS. Players can receive game results in either English or Swahili via the Internet or telephone, and winners will automatically be notified by an SMS text message.
Online Campaign -- Rank Group's Blue Square has contracted British digital agency Wheel to launch an extensive online advertising campaign to drive increased traffic and gaming at its Meccagames.com site. Meccagames is tailored for players who enjoy interacting with others, and Wheel's media plan is designed to increase awareness of this fact. Part of the campaign involves Meccagames becoming one of the first brands to advertise on the new MSN blogging area called "Spaces." Wheel has also launched and is managing the affiliate program on behalf of Meccagames.com and all other Blue Square brands.
Quick Hits -- Online skill gaming provider GameAccount has introduced a new rating system designed to provide a truer measure of a money player's skill to ensure that players receive the fairest match-ups available. The company says it paid out more than $2 million in winnings last month. . . . Winward Gaming Group--operator of Bingohall.com, Vicsbingo.com, Internetbingo.com and Bingoformoney.com--and Next Generation Entertainment--operator of Bingopalace.com, Bigtimebingo.com and Onlinebingo.com--have collaborated to enter the U.K. market online bingo market with one single brand, Bingopalace.co.uk, to gain a strategic advantage over their competitors. . . . Costa Rica-based online betting company Bodog.com was a co-sponsor of the red-carpet world premiere of the movie "Two for the Money" on Monday. . . . The U.K. Office of Fair Trading has informed Ladbrokes that it must sell four of the 141 betting shops it purchased from bookmaker Jack Brown for £76 million in July.