The National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), an agency of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), began investigating bookmakers operating in Brazil. According to the autarchy, the groups do not have legal authorization, are not supervised and generate losses to consumers.
“The activity has been explored without proper authorization and without any control, inspection or accountability mechanism, since there is still no regulation required by law, including no rules that mitigate damage to gamblers/consumers, which may, in thesis, to be violating basic consumer rights”, said Senacon, in response to a question from Máquina do Esporte about the agency’s investigations.
Last week, the body questioned 40 teams from the two main divisions of the Brazilian Championship, federations that organize 12 state competitions, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and Grupo Globo about partnerships with sports betting companies.
Since 2018, sports betting has been allowed in Brazil as a result of a law enacted by President Michel Temer. According to the measure, there is a period of four years (ending in December of this year) for the Federal Government to regulate the sector, that is to say, define measures for the operation of this activity.
Since then, bookmakers have been operating in the country, but with headquarters established abroad. However, the government receives nothing from taxes. “The new type of betting (fixed quota) was approved by Law No.
Recent calculation
According to Máquina do Esporte, the Federal Government never worried about possible losses of Brazilians with sports betting. Asked about the recent movement, the agency explained that it is now that investments are increasing significantly in the country.
“With the ostensible publicity with which these companies have been operating in the country, the number of participants in this market, which is already exponential, will increase even more and, consequently, the probability of financial crimes and false high-profit offers in a short period will increase. of time, generating enormous economic damage to society”, justified the Ministry of Justice body.
“It is, therefore, up to Senacon to prevent, investigate and repress violations of consumer protection rules, including those related to abusive advertising,” he added.
Bookmakers’ partnerships
Bookmaker partnerships are really expanding in Brazil. Today, the 20 teams in the first division have some kind of connection with companies in the sector. Nine clubs have master sponsorship with bookmakers, with the brand in the most prestigious space of the uniforms of América-MG, Avaí, Goiás, Juventude and Santos (Pixbet); Atlético-MG and Fluminense (Betano); Botafogo (Blaze); and São Paulo (Sportsbet.io).
The last team to announce an agreement with bookmakers was Athletico-PR, who signed with Betsson, for the lower back bar of the shirt. While Globo signed three contracts with betting sites to cover the World Cup: Pixbet for open TV, Betfair for closed TV and Betnacional for breaks in the competition.
“At this first moment, the exponential growth of sponsorship contracts between entities linked to football, including television broadcasters, and companies in the sports betting sector that, in many cases, carry out unauthorized activities in the country through websites “, added the municipality.
Status of betting sites
Senacon signals that the operation of these platforms, headquartered abroad and with free access to Brazilians, would represent illegality. To bet on a foreign platform, the player uses an international credit card.
It is estimated that between 400 and 500 bookmakers are operating in the country these days. However, it is logical that many companies, despite being forced to have their headquarters outside the country, fulfill their obligations.
However, this is the first time that such a significant investigation has taken place in the sector in these four years. Also according to Máquina do Esporte, the focus is not on bookmakers, but on the agreements they make with sports associations and Globo.
In addition, Senacon highlighted that it can increase the investigation and reach other modalities and media groups. “Most likely there are other broadcasters (open and closed channels) that have sponsorship contracts with bookmakers. It should be noted that, possibly, new notifications will be issued in order to cover other companies that may not have been included in this first moment”, concluded the body.
