JUE 28 DE MARZO DE 2024 - 18:39hs.
Folha de São Paulo article

The release of sports betting in Brazil opens challenge for government

After the release of sports betting in Brazil, the federal government has new challenges, such as taking care of the integrity of the sport and creating a policy to protect prevent betting-related disorders. According to the lawyer Pedro Trengrouse, detection of manipulation of results should be a priority: 'The regulation should provide detection and prevention mechanisms, including centralization of data for permanent monitoring of betting standards.'

In spite of the prohibition that was in force in the country, about 500 sites based abroad already receive bets from Brazilians, and the biggest bookmakers in Europe have sites developed in Portuguese. After the regulation, they can obtain authorization to legally exploit this kind of gaming activity in Brazil.

"The regulation of sports betting here needs to be smart and efficient, protecting the integrity of the sport, giving bettors security and creating a network of protection for vulnerable people," says lawyer Pedro Trengrouse, responsible for the proposal on the subject that was approved in the National Congress.

From now on, the Ministry of Finance will have to define the details of gaming exploration. The deadline for this is two years, but it should be completed by 2019.

According to Trengrouse, a professor at FGV and an expert in gaming regulation at the University of Nevada, USA, the integrity of the sport in the country needs to be monitored by an independent body to avoid manipulation of results. Countries in Europe, such as France and Spain, have their state oversight bodies.

Brazil is already the target of international betting mafias. In 2016, the São Paulo Civil Police arrested nine suspects of having participated in a scheme to manipulate results in the A2 and A3 Series of the Paulista Championship, as well as lower divisions of the North and Northeast.

The group would benefit criminals in Asian bookmakers. Leader of the gang in the country, Anderson Rodrigues, said that he acted under the guidance of bettors from China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The most famous case of manipulation of results in Brazilian soccer was in 2005, when 11 games of the Brazilian Championship whistled by Edilson Pereira de Carvalho were annulled after the revelation of the refereeing scandal that became known as "mafia of the whistle".

The former referee confessed to having participated in a scheme of manipulation of results of the tournament to favor bettors in the internet.

By receiving low wages, players from small clubs are more vulnerable to harassment from criminals.

"The regulation should provide mechanisms for detection and prevention of manipulation of results, including centralization of data for permanent monitoring of betting standards," says the professor. The sites offer more than 50 betting modalities, ranging from the winner of the game to the number of corners that the match will have.

FIFA has already monitored betting patterns for almost a decade in its tournaments. Since last year, CBF started doing the same in the Brazilian A, B, C and D Series.

For Trengrouse, the agency responsible for monitoring bets will have to receive mandatory operator alerts on unusual bets (a large amount of money on an unlikely bet) and develop requirements to prevent people involved from betting on their sports.

Players, coaches and officials should be prohibited from betting.

Criminal legislation must also be improved to address crimes committed by mafias, according to the professor. In 2005, the referee who confessed to defrauding results to benefit bettors was not punished for lack of specific legislation.

Federal government can raise R$1 billion (US$225 million) a year with bets

The regulation would also help the federal government raise money from gambling. If there is no exemption range, taxation on awards could yield about R$ 1 billion (US$225 million), considering the current movement of this market in Brazil.

To operate legally in the country, important betting houses would also pay the government to have a license. The value would not be very high, at risk of not attracting the big ones of the market, that now already operate freely in the country, even without a national license.

Clubs now profit from sponsorship. In the first division of English football, most teams print brands of leading gaming houses on their uniforms.

With the drop in TV revenue, major funders of sports, major European clubs and the four major US leagues (basketball, football, hockey and baseball) claim participation in the percentage of bookings turnover.

In the last World Cup, played in the middle of last year in Russia, the market handled around 135 million euros (R$ 600 million).

"Just as in the 1970s the clubs charged the TVs to broadcast their games, now is the time of the betting companies," said the professor. "Either they defend this cause or nobody will."

Source: GMB / Folha de São Paulo