The 2nd Seminar “The Rules of Gaming” with the theme “Sports Betting: Regulation and Operation” began with the presentation of the President of the OAB/DF Gaming Law Commission, Sérgio Garcia Alves. Then, Bárbara Teles talked about how much this year's Olympic Games and the World Cup, which will be held in 2022, stimulate the betting market, including in Brazil.
“Nowadays, we can bet online in our country, so the Olympic Games only draw more attention to this segmentation,” says Teles before handing the floor over to Colombian Hugo Llanos.
“The structure is something that is very important to understand. Not only the operators and bookmakers that participate, but also many other actors, such as suppliers and regulators. The operators are the ones who accept the risk, the ones you see, the ones who do the marketing, the ones who build an image,” says Llanos.
“Recognizing that the activity exists, that bookmakers are working now, is very important. Fairness is not only essential for users, but for everyone. There needs to be justice for users, bookmakers, payment methods, suppliers… The regulator must be aware of everything,” explains Llanos. He talks about how essential is having an interesting regulation for all involved in the industry, so that the sectos grow and become profitable in Brazil.
“International regulators are the ones who give you a license to operate online anywhere in the world. Operators who work in an unregulated country often have a license or have an international regulator behind them,” adds Llanos about the insertion of online bookmakers in countries without regulations for the activity.
During the online roundtable, Teles concludes that “operators are very attached to the integrity of the bets, and the Brazilian regulator will have to pay attention to this issue of integrity.” Then, she asks about how the speakers imagine the national market in five years.
“I think the Brazilian market scenario is favorable in five years' time, but there are things to consider. It is favorable to the operator who wants to enter the country. The job that operators will have is to teach the ways of payment and the technological issues, which Brazilians already have some knowledge of. Brazil has a large population and a huge GDP, in addition to an entertainment industry. You have components beyond the passion for football. They have good athletes and fans in volleyball, basketball, etc,” argues Hugo.
For him, the obstacle is to be able to offer content in local language for Brazilians, in addition to regulation that protects and feeds this passion of the gambler and the business as well.
Maria Luiza Kurban Jobim sees the Brazilian scenario favorable five years from now, but she also sees stumbling blocks along the way. “Brazil faces a challenge. There is a large appetite from the international industry in the country, but the issue of lack of clarity and legal certainty is a problem. That is why it is important to bring this idea of what the GGR is and of having a cohesive regulation,” she comments.
The specialist lawyer also highlights the prejudice experienced by those who want to debate a subject that is already legal in the country. “The gaming industry still faces this moral issue. From the moment that fixed-odds betting becomes a legal and regulated activity, moral judgments will not have to intervene in objectification. Using a credit card is another controversy because there are situations to prevent people from spending too much on gaming,” she says.
“Regulators have to be careful about payment methods. Here in Colombia, we have problems with this and with credit cards. Operators must have their own ways of security. It has to work together and be aware of the risk, which will not end with regulation. But we can try to control and reduce the risk of fraud. Communication between the regulator and the betting houses is important to combat fraud,” explains Llanos.
At the end, Sérgio Garcia Alves returns to thank everyone who participated, warns that the theme of the next internal meeting of the Gaming Law Commission will be about the processes of state lotteries, and explains the desire to bring this debate to the public.
Source: Exclusive GMB
