Deputy Roberto Arroyo sent a document to the government to advance the identification, registration, and subsequent closure of establishments operating outside the law.
Chile.- Roberto Arroyo, deputy of the Christian Social Party (PSC) sent a document to the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Carolina Tohá, to request detailed information regarding the actions carried out by the Undersecretary of the Interior and the Undersecretary for Crime Prevention to address the proliferation of illegal casinos and gambling halls throughout the country.
The deputy for the 20th District, Biobío Region, expressed his concern about the impact of these activities, noting that many of these venues operate clandestinely or under the guise of skill games, undermining the spirit of the regulations and taking advantage of the lack of municipal oversight. According to Arroyo, these spaces not only promote illegal gambling-related activities but also become hotspots for other crimes such as drug use and sales, prostitution, money laundering, and usurious loans.
“Citizens have witnessed the increase of these so-called ‘illegal casinos’, which in many cases operate outside the law, creating environments conducive to other illicit activities. It is urgent to reinforce control and monitoring measures, in coordination with municipalities and other relevant agencies,” the deputy asserted.
In the content of the document, the member of the Lower House asked the minister to report on the existence of a registry or estimate of these venues at the national level, broken down by regions and municipalities. In addition, he requested information on the coordinated actions with municipalities for their oversight and eventual closure. And finally, the measures in conjunction with governmental and private organizations to address this issue.
“It is essential to ensure compliance with regulations and prevent these places from continuing to operate as breeding grounds for illicit activities that affect the safety and tranquility of our communities,” he demanded.
The document presented by the deputy is not the first related to the operation of gambling in Chile that he presented. Earlier this month, he submitted another in which he requested the National Professional Football Association (ANFP) to report on the sponsorship contracts it had signed with online sports betting houses.
The document is addressed to the president of the ANFP, Pablo Milad, who is asked to know the current status of these contracts, considering that both the Supreme Court and the Executive Branch have stated that these operations were illegal.
The legislator said: “We have many pending issues with the ANFP regarding the fact that they still use advertising from betting houses despite the Supreme Court having delivered its verdict and the Minister of Justice also established that their contracts were illegal.”
In this regard, Arroyo wondered “How lawful or legal can it be for sports clubs to use a logo of something that is illegal? Because in Chile it has already been determined that all betting systems were prohibited”.
In that line, the letter asks to know “why they continue to operate” the online betting houses, an activity that they described as illicit. “This is as if the main sponsor of football were a criminal gang, with that we are financing Chilean football,” he criticized.
See also: Ruling in Chile: confirm a fine to Entel for betting advertising during child protection hours
The deputy, who is part of the Sports and Recreation Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, extended the document to the Ministry of Justice to find out if they are aware of the contracts between the betting houses and the ANFP and, if they continue to engage in illegality, take action “on the matter”.
It is worth remembering that in September 2023 and according to what was established by the Supreme Court of Chile in a ruling, five football clubs officially withdrew the advertising of online betting houses from their uniforms in the last date of the First Division championship. These are Coquimbo Unido, Deportivo Ñublense, Everton de Viña del Mar, Audax Italiano, and Unión La Calera, which had signed sponsorship contracts with the betting house Betway in January 2022.
