Three of the five bookmakers that offered bets on the municipal elections in Brazil removed these options from the air last Sunday (15).
As shown by Estadão, betting markets linked to this year’s municipal elections began to be explored by bookmakers. But although there is no electoral ban, the Ministry of Treasury says these games are illegal in the country.
Gap in the law would benefit bookmakers
Last Thursday (12), Betano, SportingBet, Bet365, Betspeed and Superbet were offering bets on who the next mayors of São Paulo, Rio, Belo Horizonte and other capitals will be. But, on Sunday (15) night, the service was only working on Bet365 and Betspeed.
To Correio do Povo, Betano said it would not comment on the matter and the other four companies did not comment. Without clear regulation by the Electoral Court (TSE), companies were offering bets on which candidates would be the winners in the election in each capital.
The Ministry of Treasury reported that political games have no legal provision to operate in Brazil. “Bets that go beyond these two modalities are not provided for by legislation and cannot therefore be understood as legal,” said the ministry in the statement.
However, the ministry did not state whether it would take legal measures to prevent politically motivated games from being held.
According to experts in electoral law interviewed by Correio do Povo, the creation of bets by platforms is not a crime because there is a gap on this subject in Brazilian legislation.
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE), in turn, stated that it will not comment on the matter.
What the law says about betting on elections
Sports betting companies provide “odds” (a term that refers to the probability of an event occurring) for each candidate to win. This index means how much the player’s deposit will increase if he wins.
Last Wednesday night, one of the bookmakers gave the following odds for the city of São Paulo:
- 1.83 for Ricardo Nunes (MDB) to win
- 2.20 for influencer Pablo Marçal (PRTB)
- 5.00 for Guilherme Boulos (PSOL)
With a bet of R$100, for example, a competitor can win R$183, R$220 and R$500, respectively on the candidates above.
According to lawyer Fernando Neisser, a specialist in electoral law, loopholes in electoral law allow companies to profit from elections.
In other words, there is nothing wrong if the bet clearly shows that the game is not a poll, which is prohibited during the campaign, or an election, which is controlled by the TSE.
“If the odds are published in a way that makes it clear that it is a probability of payment, exclusively calculated based on how much is being bet for each candidate, there is no impediment. I think there is a vacuum in the legislation”, said the expert .
