Player Terry Rozier, from the NBA, the basketball league in the United States, was arrested this Thursday (23) on suspicion of involvement in sports betting (bets). The information was reported by the North American TV “ESPN”.
The athlete, who plays point guard for the Miami Heat, is being investigated for alleged performance manipulation in a match held in March 2023. In addition to him, the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Chauncey Billups, was also removed for participating in an illegal poker operation and links with the mafia.
The FBI, the main intelligence agency in the United States, is leading the case. The director of the investigation department, Kash Patel, is expected to hold a press conference later this Thursday to announce the arrests and provide more details about the case.
Rozier’s defense told “ESPN” that the athlete met with authorities from the NBA and the FBI in 2023 and that the investigations had not revealed any infraction. The basketball league said it investigated the case at the time and that no rule violations were found.
The NBA had already reinforced the monitoring of betting within the league, but these arrests raise the level of seriousness of the problem, opening questions about the integrity of the competitions.
