RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - National champion Santos and other top Brazilian soccer clubs will appeal a court order to replay games officiated by a referee who confessed to being bribed to butture specific results.
Santos, Cruzeiro, Internacional, Ponte Preta and Figueirense signed an agreement Tuesday to appeal a ruling by the Superior Tribunal of Sports Justice, which annulled the results of 11 matches refereed by Edilson Pereira de Carvalho.
Carvalho was arrested Sept. 24 and admitted to favouring some clubs after being paid by gamblers. It wasn't clear which games he tampered with, but the court ruled that all 11 must be played again.
The decision by Court President Luiz Zveiter added games to an already croweded schedule and altered the standings of the 22-club first division, openly upsetting some clubs.
"This decision by President Zveiter makes it impossible for us to defend ourselves. We hope each game is analyzed individually," Internacional president Fernando Carvalho said in a radio interview.
Cruzeiro, Brazilian champion in 2003, is leading the protest. The club lost six points from two victories that were refereed by Carvalho, falling from eighth place to 13th in the standings.
"I saw the tapes of the matches. Cruzeiro believes they were clean," club president Alvimar Perrella said in an interview with Pele's website.
The clubs will appeal to the Sports Tribunal, known by its Portuguese initals STJD, but don't plan to seek redress in court, Perrella said.
"We'll never go to common court," he said. "We only hope the STJD reconsiders its decision."
Sao Paulo attended the meeting and had been expected to sign the agreement, but backed out. Still, the club opposes the idea of replaying its games against Ponte Preta and league leader Corinthians.
"They were in a rush to do justice," Sao Paulo coach Paulo Auturi told Pele's web site. "They should have stopped to think, and the clubs should have been allowed to discuss a solution."
Four games were rescheduled for Oct. 12 and four others for Oct. 19. No dates were set for the remaining three games: Sao Paulo versus Corinthians, Internacional versus Coritiba, and Fluminense versus Brasiliense.
Corinthians, Fluminense and Internacional have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Copa Sudamericana, making rescheduling games even more difficult.
The bribery scandal has shaken soccer in Brazil, the only five-time winner of the World Cup.
"Without a doubt, this was the worst thing I've seen in my entire soccer career," said Palmeiras coach Emerson Leao, a former national team goalkeeper. "For me, the championship is tainted."
