Amid allegations, operations, and arrests involving sports betting schemes, the Minister of Sports, André Fufuca, assessed this Wednesday (11) that bets will be "beneficial" for the country and committed to investigating to punish bad practices. "We cannot confuse the bad with the good, we must separate the wheat from the chaff."
“The allegations we are seeing will be investigated and I guarantee that, on behalf of the Ministry of Sports, all rigor will be used to ensure the utmost integrity in relation to sports betting,” said André Fufuca, while participating in an interview with radio stations during the program Good Morning, Minister, produced by Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC).
The minister also commented on the newly created National Secretariat for Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sport, linked to the ministry and which will be under the command of lawyer Giovanni Rocco Neto. The appointment was published on the last day 2 in the Official Gazette.
“One of the demands I made to the new secretary was that he handle it as strictly as possible and investigate whatever needs to be investigated, do whatever needs to be done. We must have integrity. Especially since we are talking about hundreds of thousands of fathers and mothers who often place their bets, make their faith.”
“If there is one thing that cannot be is any kind of illegality. As far as that is concerned, we are totally vigilant to ensure that it does not occur. And, if it does, the guilty should be punished,” Fufuca added.
Data from an opinion poll by the Locomotive Institute show that, between January and July this year, 25 million Brazilians started making sports bets on electronic platforms – an average of 3.5 million per month.
The survey shows that, in five years, the number of Brazilians who bet on bets reached 52 million. Of this total, 48% are considered new players (started betting during the first seven months of 2024).
The habit of trying luck on electronic platforms in the country currently reaches a group the same size as the total population of Colombia and larger than countries such as South Korea, Spain, and Argentina.
Source: EBC
