SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Paraguay will begin to overhaul its gambling laws in 2025, as President Santiago Peña has approved the bill to “establish a new legal regime for the exploitation of games of chance”.
Endorsed by President Peña and the Ministry of Finance, the measures and amendments carried by the bill received federal approval from Paraguay’s National Congress in December.
Changes introduced by the bill will allow Paraguay’s government to de-monopolise its gambling sector as measures introduce new competition in the lottery and sports betting sectors, expanding from one to three licensees.
In 2024, proceedings saw President Peña forced to intervene in the passage of the bill, as its review had been stalled by the Constitutional Affairs Committee.
The bill also seeks to open the gambling market by removing existing monopolies and allowing unlimited licences for sports betting and other games. Additionally, it proposes regulations for online gambling and betting to keep pace with technological advancements. Approved games would include casinos, lotteries, online casinos, and sports betting.
The overhaul of Paraguay’s gambling laws had been sought since 2022, following the fallout of corruption linked to the Conajzar tender for a national sportsbook licence, a contract controversially awarded to the Apost.la brand, without any government oversight
Calls and urgency for the overhaul were led by Lorena Rojas, head of APOJA (Association of Gaming Operators), who in 2022/2023 filed six articles proposing gambling amendments, specifically aiming to end monopolies on gambling activities. Ministers backed APOJA following the controversial Conajzar-managed sports betting tender.
Governance arrangements outlined in the bill propose a shift in regulatory oversight, with Paraguay’s National Gambling Commission (CONAJZAR) being moved from the Ministry of Economy and Finance to the National Directorate of Tax Revenue (DNIT).
The change aims to enhance operational capacity, logistics, and infrastructure for better tax revenue collection and oversight of gambling activities.
Reforms aim to replicate DNIT’s tax collection success by providing Conajzar with expanded resources, including 800 inspectors and improved legal and control functions.
Under its management, CONAJZAR will be strengthened to combat illegal gambling with new powers. Measures include blocking clandestine gambling signals, particularly those from unauthorised online casinos and platforms, through coordination with the national computing centre and Conatel.
Carlos Liseras, president of CONAJZAR welcomed the changes: “We had a long, arduous and heavy job, but we did not have the necessary operational capacity to be able to fulfil our legal obligation. Today, with Law 7438, CONAJZAR depends on the DNIT, which has sufficient operational capacity throughout the national territory, logistics, trained technical personnel, and infrastructure to fully comply with what the law establishes.”
