Bolsonaro Says Gambling is a NO for Brazil as Sports Betting Bill Advances

In an interview on the Paparazzo Rubro-Negro podcast, Jair Bolsonaro, the incumbent Brazilian president, talked about the nation's federal gambling developments. In the said interview conducted on October 14, 2022, Bolsonaro disclosed that he was confident the Liberal Party would pass sports betting in Brazil into federal law; however, he remains opposed to legalizing casino gambling.

Since 2018 when the federal government legalized fixed-odds wagers, sports betting has grown exponentially. However, given that sports betting operators do not have their headquarters in Brazil, the government is not receiving revenue from the industry. Therefore, Brazil is missing out on the market with an estimated worth of $720 million and has the potential to grow up to $1.8 billion in four years.

Sports Betting Regulation is Almost Ready Despite Delays

Former President Michel Temer signed Bill 846/2018 into federal law in December 2018, which would regulate land-based and online sports betting. The Ministry of Finance was mandated to establish a regulatory framework to help govern the sports betting market and give licenses. The timeframe for this activity was set at two years, but there was a clause that allowed an extension for another two years.

Two years later, in February 2020, the Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy, and Lottery (SECAP) called for public opinion on fixed-odds sports betting. Then, in November 2021, Gustavo Guimarães, the head of SECAP, noted that his team was working towards ensuring sports betting is privatized before FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. President Bolsonaro had already approved the privatization in August 2020, so it was up to SECAP to get things done.

Brazil’s federal government is yet to finalize launching the regulatory framework that would help it take advantage of the FIFA World Cup event, and President Bolsonaro is to blame. In June, President Bolsonaro refused to sign off on the approved regulatory decree submitted by the country’s Senate.

In the interview, he mentioned that his main bone of contention was that the legislation did not guarantee how foreign operators would pay domestic taxes. So, while he okayed the transition to a new taxation model in July 2021, he did not wave on the current legislation. However, it is believed that he stalled the sign-off to strengthen his appeal to Brazil’s Evangelical groups ahead of the general election in October.

Further, during the Paparazzo Rubro-Negro podcast interview, President Bolsonaro focused on how the government would allocate funds from sports betting. He said in part:

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“Treasury will collect a lot of money, but the issue right now is where that money is going to go, to problem gambling, to security, to infrastructure. We are evaluating it. A part can go to the third, second, and first division of the soccer championships.”

 

While he did not give any insight on the deadline for approval of the sports betting legislation, he noted that it was in its final stages. In addition, during his interview, Bolsonaro stated that the recommended betting domain was ‘.bet’ since most operators were already using it.

Bolsonaro is Not Ready to Welcome Casino Gambling

The gambling proposal was passed this year by Brazil’s Chamber led by Arthur Lira, the house’s president, and it is at the Senate for review. The lawmakers are also reviewing the possibility of opening online casinos and physical bingo halls.

Nonetheless, Bolsonaro thinks Brazil is not yet mature to have talks on casino gambling. When asked about his anti-gambling stand on the Rubro-Negro podcast, he said that he believes sports betting is different from games of chance, such as casino slots and bingo. He said:

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“In Brazil, if you allow the issue of games, there will be a problem. Slot machines, in my opinion, cannot. The guy goes to the bakery to buy bread and comes back empty-handed because he played the slot machine there. So, there are games and gambling. I believe that Brazil is not yet mature enough to discuss this. Congress is discussing a project. As it stands, I veto it.”

Although Bolsonaro threatened to veto the gambling bill, he acknowledged that if he did so, the bill would go back to parliament, and they have the power to override his veto.

Brazil Will Likely Miss the 2022 FIFA World Cup Deadline

In a few days, Brazil will have presidential re-off elections between President Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva. The government that will be elected is required to approve the final regulatory framework for technical accreditations, taxation policies, and licensing. Ideally, by Saturday November 19, 2022, before the debut of World Cup matches, the Brazilian government should have decided how to regulate sports betting.

However, stakeholders are not confident that the then president will have signed off sports betting into law before the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Some analysts had even projected that the South American nation would miss out on a $4 billion Qatar World Cup windfall owing to its delay in wrapping up the sports betting regulation.