SAO PAULO, March 14 — Brazil and Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa was detained by police this morning after officials raided an illegal gambling hall in Sao Paulo with 200 people inside.

The former Internazionale and Benfica player hid under a table to try to avoid capture but was found and led away from a building packed with poker and craps tables.

Barbosa, often known as Gabigol, was later released.

"We got a tip-off about a party,” Ricardo Nunes, the vice-mayor of Sao Paulo, told Reuters witnesses.

"When we got here we found that in addition to an enormous number of people, more than 200 people in an unventilated room, there was a casino, which is illegal. There were also some celebrities, for example, Gabigol.”

Barbosa, 24, was one of at least 20 people detained in the raid that was part of a broad clampdown by authorities in Brazil’s most populous state.

Sao Paulo’s consumer defence agency said it had fined some 100 establishments for violating lockdown restrictions that were tightened last week as Covid-19 deaths hit record levels.

More than 270,000 people have died in Brazil, 12,000 in the last week alone. — Reuters