JUE 28 DE MARZO DE 2024 - 11:13hs.
Milton Jordão, Master in Social Policies

“The regulation of sports betting must remove the internal market from illegality”

In an article on ‘Lei em Campo’ website, lawyer Milton Jordão, Master in Social Policies and Citizenship at UCSal/Bahia, makes an interesting analysis of the regulation of sports betting and the benefits of expanding the discussions and approving the Regulatory Framework for Gaming in Brazil. “We insist on looking only at Europe where the best-known bookmakers come from, instead of realizing that the internal market exists and needs to be contemplated,' he says.

The author of the article defends the approval of the Regulatory Framework for Gaming and brings to regularity “the exploitation of sports betting in Brazil (usually linked to the ‘jogo do bicho). The entire discourse constructed always thinks and targets sports betting from the perspective of foreign companies. There is, in fact, a curious excitement when it comes to the subject, perhaps due to the long years in which we have been wrong, surrounded by hypocrisy around the subject of gambling. For years, the right to legally exploit gaming - and, of course, sports betting - has been denied, always guided by a moral and - truly - false discourse,” Jordão says.

The lawyer comments that since the enactment of Law 13756/18, which instituted sports betting, “there has been a natural movement in the market, with Brazil becoming the object of desire by the world's greatest bookmakers which have, since then, began to sponsor events, sports administration and sports bodies, lawfully. An understandable interest in making themselves known as brands to their potential consumers, as soon as the regulations are published.”

According to Jordão, “there is an increasing frequency of pressure for bets to be properly regulated, having as main backing the speech that it will do enormous good to the stakeholders of national football, especially now, in times when economic aridity was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite walking at a slow pace, regulation is seen as reality and will invariably come.”

In his assessment, those who exploit the jogo do bicho “are compulsorily marginalized and stigmatized. As it has always been, the jogo do bicho and whoever exploits it as an outlaw, its natural approach to criminal business and culture is natural. As a matter of fact, it is known that there is a hidden market for sports betting in Brazil, where a large number of people are part of it. Although the servers of these sites are located in nations that authorize the practice of betting - generally in Europe - there are physical points of sale, people hired to provide services for betting agents (so-called money changers), that is, the business flows and develops naturally.”

“So, therefore, why not think about building a golden bridge for these ‘entrepreneurs’ to be able to remove the quotes I set and enter a life within the standards of full legality?”, he asks. According to him, “it would be much more lucid - and profitable - to contemplate the inclusion of such people in the formal sector of betting on the horizon of any legislative production. However, nothing is said. The draft decree published and submitted to the scrutiny of society, to offer suggestions, does not include any hypothesis of this nature, it seems that there is only interest in having foreign companies as betting operators,” he comments.

“We are, therefore, facing a unique opportunity to remove a good portion of people from crime. It is known, of course, that the process of marginalization of conducts ends up leading those who practice them to approach and assimilate others, even more serious ones”, he states.

For Jordão, "the current scenario proposed by the State for regulation does not fully meet everyone's wishes."

In the article, Milton Jordão is emphatic when he says that “sports betting and the legalization of the gaming sector in Brazil can mean 'copernic' changes, not only in the field of economics, but, as said, also in the containment and review of crime rates, if they are promoted with due care and fearlessness.”

Source: GMB / Lei em Campo