“To guarantee the integrity of the sector, it is essential to block illegal sites that do not want to comply with the rules of the Brazilian betting market. Together we are working to establish regulations and monitor the system,” stated Minister Fufuca.
Recently, the Ministry of Sports, through the National Secretariat for Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports (Snaede), reported irregularities on platforms where digital influencers promote bets with promises of easy profits, without warning users about the risks.
At the time, Giovanni Rocco, Secretary of Sports Betting, warned about the impact of these fraudulent economic schemes. “These scams hide behind social media platforms. What they do is not betting, it is a crime against the popular economy,” he explained.
So far, more than 9,600 illegal betting sites have been blocked by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), by order of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) of the Ministry of Finance.
In December, the Ministry of Finance and Anatel formalized a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) to speed up and improve the blocking of sites that illegally exploit fixed-odds bets. The measure, according to the Treasury, aims to “create a fast and direct flow of information between institutions, reducing operating costs and strengthening oversight of the sector.”
Although there is no official figure, professionals in the betting sector estimate that the illegal market still represents almost 40% of the betting industry. This is a high number, for example, when compared to one of the most structured betting markets in the world, the United Kingdom, which has the highest rate of authorized companies, but with 13% still in the illegal market.
With the regulation of the sector in force since January 1, one of the ways to undermine the regulation of illegal websites is by controlling financial transactions. Since we only operate in the sector of payment institutions licensed by the Central Bank, the issue may be more effectively developed with the action of payment facilitators so that only websites authorized by the federal government offer bets. By not carrying out cash in and cash out transactions, payment companies could be the main instrument for combating illegal websites.
Source: GMB
