José Francisco Manssur, special advisor to the Ministry of Finance and one of those responsible for sports betting in the Federal Government, is leaving his position.
The Special Communications Office of the Ministry of Finance has just issued an official note about the dismissal of the advisor from the department.
“Last Friday (16), the special advisor to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance, José Francisco Cimino Manssur, was dismissed from his position upon request. Manssur was in charge of drafting the set of rules for regulating the betting sector by fixed quota in Brazil”, says the official statement.
“The process was conducted throughout 2023 and concluded in December, after the approval of the new legislation in the National Congress and sanction by the Presidency of the Republic. The Ministry of Finance is grateful for the work provided by Francisco Manssur throughout this period.”
Manssur’s departure is part of a ministerial restructuring, but occurs amid supposed pressure from Centrão, which wants to take control of the sports betting area.
Manssur was a supporter of sports betting
The decision was taken last Friday (16), when the executive secretary of Finance, Dario Duringham, informed Manssur about his departure.
But despite Manssur’s departure, the Treasury guarantees that the sports betting area will continue to be under the ministry’s responsibility. Recently, he was present and participated in debates at ICE London, the largest fair in the gambling sector.
Manssur gave an exclusive interview to the iGaming Brazil portal talking about the new steps in regulating the Brazilian market, as well as the launch of other ordinances.
He stated that the ordinance most awaited by the market will bring the rules and deadlines for authorization requests. The then advisor to the Ministry of Finance highlighted that 134 companies responded to the ministry’s prior expression of interest.
José Manssur’s career
José Francisco Manssur is a lawyer and has experience in public management, having worked at the Metropolitan Transport Secretariat of the State of São Paulo.
He also participated in the formulation of Law 10,672/2003 and was co-author of Federal Senate Bill 5516/2016, which resulted in the approval of Law 14,193/2021.