Brazil sends football envoy to learn Spanish betting safeguards

A special delegation of Brazilian politicians and football executives will travel to Spain next week to research the country’s legislative frameworks governing sports betting.

The envoy will be led by Rodrigo Maia, President of Brazil’s Chamber of Duties, and Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos, President of the São Paulo Football Federation.

During the visit, Brazilian executives will research Spanish football’s safeguards related to betting integrity dynamics and effective athlete protection measures against match-fixing.

Furthermore, Brazil’s Chamber of Duties has communicated that the executives will seek to learn of further betting-related funding models for Brazilian football’s development.

The delegation heads to Spain as Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP) – the agency charged with the regulatory development of Brazilian sports betting – issues a further consultation this February to assess licensing frameworks, which may see Brazil adopt a ‘fixed concessions model’ and limit the number of available licences.

The new consultation was launched following an intervention by Brazil’s National Treasury who demanded that draft licensing models be reassessed with the aim of providing the government with better oversight of licensed betting operators and their activities.

Following the publication of SECAP’s initial ‘draft decree’ on sports betting, figureheads from Brazilian sports urged the PSL government to form a ‘sports anti-corruption’ unit to develop safeguards against match-fixing’.

Reviewing SECAP’s market proposals, international sports betting integrity body the IBIA underlined that the decree’s integrity frameworks were significantly insufficient should Brazil move to regulate a modern sports betting sector.