Next, the complete column of Ney Carvalho for O GLOBO:
Wasted revenue source
In the debate about the liberalization of gambling in the country, the emphasis has been on games of chance, especially casinos and bingos. Brazilians still can not have fun in such establishments. To do so, they must cross our borders and go to any neighboring country. And it never hurts to emphasize that Brazil is the only democratic country in the G-20 that has not yet regulated the activity.
However, there is a relevant aspect of the discussion that has not deserved due attention of the sectors involved, be they political or economic. This is the opening of sports betting. For the simple fact that they are a reality available to those who have a credit card and a computer connected to the internet.
According to recent studies, there are about 500 websites, with servers placed in tax havens, which offer sports betting. And more, a good part of them with Portuguese version, destined to attract the Brazilian public, market considered of great potential.
Just over two years ago, Congress had approved sports betting, but the issue was vetoed by the then president. And the argument, bordering on ridicule, was that the IRS, one of the most efficient in the world, would not be able to oversee operations. This ill-will with the subject costs millions a year to Brazilians and puts at risk an authentic intangible heritage of the country, football.
For the simple reason that there are international mafias seeking to defraud sports results, specifically football, in order to make unusual profits with online betting. This must already be happening in local and national championships in Brazil. It happens that the biggest ones interested in avoiding these scams are the sports betting sites, the main victims of fraud, forced to pay those who bet and won by such methods. But the international operators are far from Brazil and almost nothing can do to avoid the scams that happen here.
It should also be remembered that sports betting companies are the main sponsors of the clubs involved in the European Championships, such as the English Premier League and other such entities. If the theme were approved in the country, certainly a large amount of sponsorship would be injected into our hard-fought football.
The opening of sports betting in Brazil would have the triple effect of helping to sanitize the sport, bring new contributions to sponsorship, freeing state banks from such functions, and obtain appreciable tax revenues, given the breadth of our market and the popular passion for football.
The time has come for the government to liberate and regulate the activity, so that taxes generated by sports betting can benefit public finances in the country and not be exempt from taxation in tax havens.
Ney Carvalho is a writer and historian
