Those who follow football and other sports have seen how betting companies are increasingly present in Brazilian sport in recent years, either with advertisements or with sponsorship of clubs and other institutions in the sector.
And they, of course, are a very important and interested part in the scandal that took over Brazilian football and became a police case. But how do they see this situation? How are they positioned? And what do they do to try to combat match-fixing and grooming?
ESPN went after these answers. And in all, 28 companies, independently or through associations that are part of it, responded to the report.
There were two identical questions asked of everyone.
1 - How does the company see this betting scandal on Brazilian football?
2 - What can betting companies do to help combat player enticement?
In general, as ESPN.com.br showed in an article from the last May 12th, betting companies defend the regulation of the sector.
And with regard to the current scandal, which came to light through operations Maximum Penalty I and II, by the Public Ministry of Goiás (MP-GO), they see themselves as victims and understand that the case harms their activities.
Two associations represent the majority of gambling companies in Brazil, namely the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), with 15 members (see all below), and the Brazilian Institute of Gaming Employment (IBJR), with nine members ( list below as well).
Despite being part of the ANJL, galera.bet also answered the questions independently. In none of the associations mentioned above, Casa de Apostas, Esportes da Sorte and Vai de Bob sent their considerations, while LeoVegas sent part of its annual report in which it addresses its ways of fighting against manipulation.
1 - How does the company see this betting scandal on Brazilian football?
Response from ANJL, through the CEO of the institution, Wesley Cardia, who represents:
"The ANJL believes that the manipulation of results in football matches undermines the credibility of the sport in Brazil, in addition to harming bookmakers and gamblers. We reaffirm our repudiation of illegal actions that harm the sport, the practice of responsible gaming, the integrity of the results and, mainly, the sports betting houses, which are the main victims of the frauds that occurred.
This is the crucial point: bookmakers are the main losers of match-fixing. The manipulation of any aspect of sporting events brings losses to bookmakers, either financially or in terms of image, since they are the first victims of these illegal acts. Government, sports and gamblers are also affected. The first, because it loses tax collection; sport, because it sees its credibility shaken; and bettors, because the results are distorted, preventing their prediction of the natural result from being achieved.
The ANJL emphasizes the need to regulate the sector, so that even more effective and forceful measures are adopted through partnerships between the public and private sectors, with the aim of eliminating this type of illegal practice in the Brazilian market. ANJL supports the investigation of the facts, confident in the performance of the competent authorities and in the exemplary punishment of those involved."
Response from the IBJR, through the director-president of the body, André Gelfi, who represents::
"We were surprised. We have to speak out and clarify what is within our reach. Even from the point of view of responsible gaming. Integrity is one of our foundations. We are engaged in this. A few days ago, we announced our partnership with IBIA – International Beting Integrating Association, the main entity in the segment -, which has been dedicated to monitoring in Europe since 2005. We signed an agreement to work in Brazil. We are open to collaborating, but so far we have not been approached."
Response from Casa de Apostas, through Hans Schleier, marketing director:
"We are following everything very carefully. It is a topic that meets the interests of industry, government and customers in general. It is extremely important that those responsible are investigated, as well as everyone involved in any type of fraud, whether in the betting market sports or not, remembering that bookmakers are the most affected."
Response from Esportes da Sorte, through Darwin Filho, CEO:
"We follow with great apprehension the disclosure of several cases of match-fixing in Brazilian football, however, we are also hopeful that the action of the public authorities aimed at criminalizing the agents responsible for these acts will have an effect, so that we can mitigate these problems and prevent future occurrences. Our sports betting sector, together with the clubs, are the main victims of these marginal acts committed by criminals identified by the investigative tasks."
Response from galera.bet, through Marcos Sabiá, CEO:
"We, at galera.bet, see it with extreme regret and the feeling that we are doubly victimized by this type of offense, whether as part of society, which sees its national passion tarnished, or as bookmakers, directly affected by these frauds.”
Response from Vai de Bob, through Thomas Carvalhaes, executive director:
"Unfortunately, the analysis has to be done a little deeper than sports betting, the Brazilian football issue and the cultural issue have to be analyzed. Unfortunately, we know that Brazil is very prone to corruption, a problem that is culturally rooted. We have people who find and will continue to find ways to take advantage.
It is important to point out that the bookmaker is merely a victim of this issue. Why? Because a person who goes there and arranges a result with a football team or a football player is a person who is looking to earn unfair money on top of the house.”
Positioning of LeoVegas, through part of its annual report:
"Match-fixing is considered one of the greatest threats to the integrity of competitive sports. Preventing, detecting and prosecuting match-fixing requires collaboration between sport, gaming companies and law enforcement authorities.
Sport educates its athletes; companies have a responsibility to monitor all gaming-related transactions to identify deviations or unexplained results. In the digital gaming industry, companies have the real-time opportunity to analyze betting, player behavior and odds movements. Suspicious matches are reported, depending on the jurisdiction, to the relevant sporting authorities and bodies.
Game manipulation is successfully tackled when gaming companies, authorities and sports associations collaborate.”
2 - What can betting companies do to help combat player enticement?
Response from ANJL, through its CEO Wesley Cardia:
"Big companies are attentive to manipulation movements because they are the victims and cannot accept that illegal acts are carried out without due punishment.
Companies associated with the ANJL are studying various measures that they can adopt, from athlete education campaigns, exceptions to certain bets (such as, for example, not accepting bets on numbers of fouls or penalties or yellow cards) and making agreements with the authorities to them with information that can accelerate police and legal actions to stop the bandits that are staining Brazilian sport."
Response from the IBJR, through its director-president, André Gelfi:
“What we do is work on prevention. Basically, educate. Make this crime the least likely to happen. When this happens, the crime is aligned with the sportsman. We have to go to the source. Where is this happening? You have to raise awareness... In addition to the entire framework of consequences, if these externalities continue to happen.
The work goes through the regulation of betting. Today, we don't have a national betting market. This makes it easier for the criminal to act. When we have the regulation in place, the relationship becomes completely different.”
Response from Casa de Apostas, through Hans Schleier, marketing director:
"We firmly believe that regulation will bring mechanisms and responsibilities for any and all manipulation of results. The regulation will bring security to companies and bettors, since entities and companies are able to share data to detect suspicious behavior. It will also help to make relations with clubs, entities, companies and bettors themselves more transparent."
Response from Esportes da Sorte, through Darwin Filho, CEO:
"Esportes da Sorte stands alongside the police/judicial authority and is at its complete disposal to assist with data and information relevant to ongoing investigations.
The market urges punishment for those responsible and the establishment of communication protocols between public and private entities, with the aim of preventing fraud and anticipating potential criminal movements."
Response from galera.bet, through Marcos Sabiá, CEO:
"In order to curb and combat these criminal actions, in addition to having structures, intelligence and technology that seek to identify and combat these practices, we encourage joint actions that involve the entire sports community in preventing and punishing these wrongdoings, through educational actions with athletes and managers, so that from the base categories there is awareness of the risks and prevention instruments, reporting to the authorities and punishment of those involved.”
Response from Vai de Bob, through Thomas Carvalhaes, executive director:
“Increasingly harsher punishments, such as permanent suspension from the sport, both of the athlete involved and, potentially, of the club in case of recurrence of issues like this. So, I believe that what we [betting companies] can do is participate in the dialogue, placing ourselves, once again, as victims of situations like this and demanding and placing situations for the dialogue to happen and, eventually, this type of situation ceases to exist in Brazilian sport.”
Positioning of LeoVegas, through part of its annual report:
"Match-fixing is considered one of the greatest threats to the integrity of competitive sports. Preventing, detecting and prosecuting match-fixing requires collaboration between sport, gaming companies and law enforcement authorities.
Sport educates its athletes, companies have a responsibility to monitor all game-related transactions to identify deviations or unexplained results. In the digital gaming industry, companies have the real-time opportunity to analyze betting, player behavior and odds movements. Suspicious matches are reported, depending on the jurisdiction, to the relevant sporting authorities and bodies.
Game manipulation is successfully tackled when gaming companies, authorities and sports associations collaborate."
What about regulation?
On May 11, the federal government released details regarding the regulatory proposal for the sports betting market, created by the Ministry of Finance. According to the folder, companies will be taxed at 16% of the revenue obtained.
Bet winners will pay 30% income tax on top of the money received. There will be exemption only for values below R$ 2,112. According to Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance, the federal government expects to collect between R$ 12 and R$ 15 billion a year.
The project, which is currently with the Civil House, will arrive as a Provisional Measure to Congress (Chamber and Senate). Once edited, the project should come into effect within a period of up to four months. The regulation gained strength after Operations Maximum Penalty I and II.
Master sponsorship of betting companies in Série A of the Brasileirão
Of the 20 clubs that make up the first division of Brazilian football, 12 of them have betting companies as master sponsors:
Source: ESPN
