Premier League club's co-owner hands over 'evidence of match-fixing' at police station

Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor claimed he has handed evidence of match-fixing to a police station in Brazil.

Textor, who is among the shareholders at Palace, also owns stakes in French giants Lyon, Belgium's Molenbeek and Rio de Janeiro outfit Botafogo.

And the American has insisted that Brazil's top division, where Botofogo are currently fifth, has been subjected to match-fixing.

The 58-year-old media and tech mogul has made allegations of match-fixing in Brazil's top flight for months, blaming "corruption" for his club’s spectacular collapse in the run-in of the 2023 campaign.

Speaking to Globo, Textor claimed he had proof of match-fixing in Brazil’s Serie A, which he has handed to the police.

He said: “I went to the police station, started the process, handed over evidence, and gave my statement. It’s a marvellous day.

“I spoke to independent and reasonable investigators who didn’t seem to be rooting for any club. It’s a lot of information, it’s months of data collection.

“It’s very much the start of a very healthy process. I handed over complete evidence of match-fixing weeks ago. Names have been withheld to protect the identity of the players involved.

“I care about the law. If someone is involved in a match-fixing scandal, that person also has rights. I can’t understand how the STJD, which has non-confidential cases, keeps asking for proof.”

The Brazilian court opened up an investigation into the claims in March and ordered Textor to hand over his evidence.

John Textor has stakes in Crystal Palace, Lyon, Molenbeek and Botafogo (Getty)

However, France 24 reported on April 3 that the Eagles Football Holdings head had not yet presented proof of the match-fixing claims and would thus go on trial on April 15 before a disciplinary panel of the Superior Court of Sport for Football.

The court said in a statement that Palmeiras had asked them to order Textor "to abstain from any mention or reference to Palmeiras, under penalty of suspension and fine."

The move came after Textor claimed on Monday he had "heavy, heavy, heavy evidence, 100-percent proven, that Palmeiras has been the beneficiary of match-fixing".

If convicted of violating the national legal code for sport, Textor could be struck with a 360-day suspension and fined up to $40,000 (£31,000).