SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPI) examining betting fraud and match-fixing scandals in Brazilian sports will not convene until August.
The decision was announced by Arthur Lira, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who cited that the CPI investigation had been “pushed down the legislature’s list of priorities”, choosing to focus on policies related to fiscal matters.
From 18 July, Parliament in Brasilia will enter its recess until 1 August, with Lira providing no timeline for the investigation to proceed.
“We will not have committee meetings, nor CPIs, nor solemn sessions. The parliamentary groups and fronts will devote themselves to the debate of the economic agenda to approve these proposals before closing,” Lira wrote on his Twitter account.
The outcome of the CPI’s investigation into betting fraud could impact the final settlement of Brazil’s federal sports betting regime.
In 2022 and 2023, Brazilian football has been rocked by consecutive betting scandals impacting the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série B and state championships.
The office of President Lula da Silva has previously stated that it would await the conclusions of the CPI probe before putting forward its recommendations on sports integrity to be included in Brazil’s federal sports betting regime.
Progress in May saw Finance Minister Fernando Haddad publish the first provisional measures on tax, which detailed that the government had settled on applying a 16% GGR tax rate, with funds to be distributed to Brazil’s welfare, education and sports programmes.
The settlement of a federal sports betting regime requires outstanding provisional measures to establish the duties of a ‘special secretariat’ and to provide new laws for gambling advertising, to be drafted by CONAR – the National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation.
Francisco Manssur, a special advisor to the Ministry of Finance, cited that it would try to publish further provisional measures before the legislative recess in July. However, the regulation of betting in Brazil could be delayed due to the postponement of the CPI investigation.
Dampening prospects, Lira, as chief legislature, has previously cited that the government must merge all provisional sports betting measures into a unified bill.
In his intervention, Lira stated that the government must address the Chamber of Deputies’ previous request, which called for any form of sports betting legislation to be treated as a constitutional matter.
