Brazil’s Supreme Court for Sporting Justice (STJD) is opening an investigation into the signing of Corinthians midfielder Petros.
The conduct of both the football club, and the São Paulo Football Federation, are under analysis after suspected irregularities in the transfer.
The player was registered on August 1, a day before his contract with Corinthians came into effect. That in turn meant the player was available for selection for the club’s Campeonato Brasileiro match away to Coritiba on August 3, when his registration should still have been being processed, as well as the side’s next seven games, four in the Brasileirão and three in the Copa do Brasil.
If Corinthians are found guilty of any wrongdoing, they could lose up to 21 league points and be expelled from the Copa do Brasil. Petros played against Bahia, in the third round, and Bragantino, in the last 26.
At present, Corinthians have collected 32 league points and sit fourth in the table, a position good enough to qualify them for the next edition of the Copa Libertadores.A deduction of 21 points would leave them bottom of the league with 11 points, six from safety.
The club are also in the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil having defeated Bragantino 3-2 on aggregate over two legs. They are scheduled to play the winners of the Palmeiras v Atlético-MG tie in the quarter-finals.
