"The beginning of the regulated operation of bets in 2025 will organize the sector and reduce illicit activities."

The International Institute of Governance and Risk (GovRisk), in partnership with Genius Sports and Entain, held this Thursday (5) the Third Summit of Sports Integrity at the Football Museum in São Paulo. During the meeting, which discussed good practices in sports, athletes, sports entities, integrity associations, and companies in the sports betting and online gaming sector, the focus was on discussing good practices in sports.

One of the most anticipated panels was "From Regulation to Implementation: Navigating the New Sports Betting Law in Brazil", which featured the presence of Secretary of Awards and Betting of the Ministry of Finance, Regis Dudena.

In the introduction to the topic, Dudena presented a history since the beginning of the regulation process and highlighted the work developed by SPA in meeting deadlines to prepare the ground for regulated operations in Brazil. “Since we presented the regulatory agenda, we were questioned whether the deadlines would be met. Proud of a team that worked tirelessly, I proudly say yes, we met the goal of delivering all ordinances by the end of July”.

The secretary affirmed that everything was done listening to the market to ensure that nothing was left aside in the regulation process. “Why did we do this? To adapt everything to the regulated market and to make the activity transparent and compliant with the law. The rules need to be met by everyone”.

Regis Dudena emphasized: “We imposed strict rules and 114 companies entered the Betting Management System (Sigap) with their license applications. This means they said ‘yes, I agree with the rules’. Now, we just have to work to analyze everything that was presented and deliver, by the end of November, the approvals of those that met all the requirements”.

According to the secretary, all irregularities will be combated with the start of regulated operations, on January 1, 2025. “Everyone will have to comply with the rules and we have mechanisms to prevent those who do not have a license from operating and even impose sanctions on betting houses that break the law”.

Regis Dudena stated that the work developed by the Secretary of Awards and Betting has the challenge of making Brazil a success in this industry “under adequate regulation and strict, but clear rules for the entire sector”.

The secretary admitted that the process of analyzing license applications will still take time. “There are 100 documents from each company to be analyzed in this phase. With 114 applications presented to Sigap, there will be more than ten thousand to be studied by our team”, he said.

 

Regis Dudena also highlighted the convergence of interest between the regulator and the regulated regarding the education of the bettor. “Before anything else, people will have to understand where they can and cannot bet. They will need to know that they must bet on an authorized site. This is the initial starting point. Obviously, we will have actions against illegal sites as a way to protect the bettor”.

Among the measures pointed out by the secretary are the blocking of unlicensed sites and even curbing the provision of links on social media to sites without authorization. “Historically, within the context of the relationship with social media, there are some divergences on how they could monitor illegalities, since there is a fear of a value judgment. This will not be the case for betting sites, since it is something binary. Has authorization, can be; does not have authorization, cannot. It's that simple”, he said.

 

Payment Methods

Another way to curb unauthorized sites, according to Dudena, will be through the payment method. “With the regulation and the requirement that financial transaction providers be authorized by the Central Bank, we have another contributor to the blocking of operations of unlicensed sites”, he reinforced. 

Regarding the issue of payment methods, Leonardo Baptista, CEO of Pay4Fun, who participated in the panel alongside Regis, stated that “all allegations of money laundering as well as other externalities will be extinguished. With the requirement that payment providers be authorized and regulated by the Central Bank, any attempt by unauthorized sites to continue operating falls apart”.

According to Leo, “today, 96% of transactions are made by Pix and it was a correct decision to prevent sites from accepting payments via credit card. This brings even more transparency and security to the sector. The Pix and the regulation of Bacen will be an important filter to curb unauthorized sites”.

 

Still on this topic, Valter Delfraro Jr., executive of government relations and business development at GLI, stated: “I worked for years in the financial market, which is highly regulated, and I see that the sector of sports betting and online gaming is even more so, which brings security to the bettor and to the market itself”.

The first laboratory to be accredited by the Secretary of Awards and Betting, GLI is more than ready for the regulated Brazilian market. “We operate in all jurisdictions around the world where gambling is regulated and offering our services in Brazil is not much different from what we have been doing for many years. Not only in terms of technical requirements but also in issues of responsible gaming, which will give numerous guarantees to the government that all rules will be followed by the operators”, highlighted Valter Delfraro.

The executive also said that the sector itself will have to educate not only the bettors but also the media. “By doing this, it will make clear how serious the activity is and focused on good practices, combating gambling addiction, and practicing responsible gaming”, he concluded.

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Source: GMB