Ana Moser, former volleyball player and new Minister of Sports in the Lula government, was the guest of new UOL Interview, and avoided talking about the non-regulation of sports betting at the end of the Bolsonaro government.
The activity, as contemplated in the draft of the presidential decree that regulates sports betting, would receive a portion of the revenues from taxes applied to sportsbooks.
Even so, either she did not want to create more controversies or preferred not to learn more about the subject and to show a certain ignorance. Asked whether it would be important to regulate sports betting to have resources invested in sports, Moser said that “there are a lot of people debating this. I, particularly, [find it difficult] to give a position on this”.
eSports
The minister considers that electronic sports - video games played competitively - are not sports and, therefore, will not invest in this segment. Moser compared the training of eSports athletes to that of singer Ivete Sangalo and stated that electronic sports are part of the entertainment industry, just like music.
“In my view, eSports is an entertainment industry, it is not a sport. So, you have fun playing video games. "Ah, but people train to do it". They train, just like the artists. I said these days, just like Ivete Sangalo also trains to put on a show and she is not a music athlete. She is simply an artist who works in entertainment. Electronic gaming is not unpredictable. It is designed by digital, cybernetic programming. It's a schedule, it's closed, it's not open, like sports,” said Ana Moser in an interview with UOL.
She said that there will be no investment by the Ministry of Sport in eSports and recalled that the NGO "Atletas pelo Brasil" worked to ensure that the General Sports Law, whose proposal is being discussed in the Senate, did not leave the concept of sport so broad as to be able to include eSports.
“The issue of eSports at the federal level is not yet a reality. I have no intention [to invest in it]. As far as I'm concerned, it's not a sport. We fought, last year, me in my former life, at the head of ‘Atletas pelo Brasil’, we took a very strong action with the Legislative for the text of the General Law [of sport] not to be open enough to be able to have the eSports fitting. The text is there protecting the root sport. In the definition of sport, an opening had been given that could include electronic sports, and we closed that definition in order not to run that risk. Of course, risk always happens, and it is constant work,” explained the former volleyball player.
The project for the new General Sports Law (Bill 1,153/2019), by Senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB), was approved in June by the Senate, with rapporteurship by Leila Barros (PDT-DF), and in July by the Chamber. But the text has undergone changes and, therefore, will need to be appreciated again by the senators.
Games and sports
The debate about whether eSports are sports or not is an old one for the electronic gaming community and involves the inclusion of games in the Olympic program.
In March 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled out the possibility of holding game championships that do not involve physical activity in the Olympics. On the other hand, the IOC announced that Singapore will host the Olympic Esports Week in 2023. The event is a "next big step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and in the engagement with great competitive gamers," according to the entity maximum of traditional sport.
Among the attractions of the Olympic Esports Week are the in-person finals of the Olympic Esports Series, a global competition in collaboration with international federations. This builds on the Olympic Virtual Series that took place last year. For Thomas Bach, President of the IOC, the action is an "important milestone in our ambition to support the growth of esports within the Olympic Movement."
In September 2022, the Asian Olympic Games had eSports competitions, not just games with physical activity. There were eight electronic sports modalities with medal distribution, including League of Legends, FIFA and DotA 2, and two demonstrations. It was the first time that the event, equivalent to our Pan American Games, awarded medals to eSports.
In 2018, in Indonesia, there were League of Legends, Arena of Valor, Clash Royale, Pro Evolution Soccer, Hearthstone and StarCraft 2 competitions, but as a demo. They did not count towards the medal chart. In 2022, eSports tournaments became part of the Olympic program, as decided by the Olympic Council of Asia in December 2020.
Last year, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, declared that he intends to work for eSports to have a connection with the Paris 2024 Olympics. such as the worldwide League of Legends (Worlds), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Major) and Dota 2 (The International) tournaments.
Source: GMB
