Flamengo striker Gabigol was detained for several hours early Sunday in a clandestine casino in Sao Paulo along with about 200 people in a health surveillance operation to avoid crowds in the face of a growing pandemic, authorities reported.
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The player Gabriel Barbosa was arrested in a luxury casino located in the rich Vila Olimpia neighborhood, in the south of the city, and transferred to a police station, where he signed a document promising to return to give a statement, before to be released.
A group of health inspectors and police officers detected “crowds of about 200 people in a playhouse (…) People blatantly consumed alcohol, did not respect the rules of social distance and did not wear a mask,” he said. the government of Sao Paulo on a note.
In the videos published by the authorities, Gabigol appears dressed in a white T-shirt and wearing a mask, at the exit of the unit escorted by the police.
“I don’t usually play. I was with my friends and we went to eat. When we left, the police came ordering everyone to come down,” Gabigol said in excerpts from an interview with Globonews’ Fantástico program, which he will broadcast in Tonight.
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“It was a lack of sensitivity on my part,” added the striker, who assured that he spends his time with his friends, taking advantage of his last day of vacation, after “Fla” was crowned twice champion of Brasileirao- 2020 on February 26.
“I always used a mask, alcohol gel” and when I realized that “there were few people leaving the casino”, he added.
The popular club in Rio de Janeiro has indicated that the incident “will be treated internally”, a spokesman told AFP.
Flamengo will play this Sunday with his substitute against Fluminense for the Rio tournament.
The employees and manager of the casino, units that have been banned in Brazil since 1946, must “be held accountable for the crime against public health, gambling and contravention,” Commissioner Eduardo Brotero said in an interview with GloboNews.
On March 6, the state of Sao Paulo returned to the “red phase” of restrictions, with the closure of parks, bars, restaurants, museums and non-essential shops, to avoid the collapse of the hospital in the deadliest period of the pandemic, which leaves over 277,000 deaths and 11.4 million infections in Brazil.
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With 46 million inhabitants, Sao Paulo is the state most affected by cornavirus, with almost 64,000 deaths and 2.1 million infections.
Starting Monday, the state will have more stringent measures, such as suspending the operation of churches, sporting events and the entry into force of an extinction.