SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Developments to implement a federal sports betting regime in Brazil progress as members of the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI) will meet with the Ministry of Finance to create a new ‘betting secretariat’ in charge of the funds raised from a regulated sector.
Finance Minister Fernando Haddad needs the approval of certain key figures in the department that will have the responsibility of managing the money from betting.
According to a report by CNN, the ministry led by Haddad needs this joint-approval to start designing how these funds will be managed.
In addition, the media confirmed that government sources assured that there is an authorisation from the Casa Civil to create this secretariat, which would also reduce public expenses, as the necessary servers could be reassigned to carry out these tasks.
At the beginning of May, the details of the provisional measure that will regulate the industry were shared. At that time, the Ministry of Finance announced in a statement that the regulation was imminent, although later the industry lost momentum due to the publication of the CPI that will provide recommendations on how to address betting integrity.
Regulation is expected to be approved once the CPI shares these recommendations, although it has a deadline for the end of September, which can be postponed for a period of two more months.
However, CNN believes that the provisional measure could come out as soon as this secretariat begins to operate – by the end of June.
Sports integrity in Brazil has hit national headlines again, as yesterday Rubens Lopes da Costa – the President of Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation (FERJ) – announced that three Rio clubs would have their results annulled due to betting irregularities.
Following an investigation, the FERJ has found that “abnormalities were observed in match development, results, and associated betting patterns” in matches played by São José FC, Brasileirinho Social Club, and DuqueCaxiense Football Club in the 2023 Rio State Division C Championship.
