The panelists opened the debate with a severe criticism of the way in which the law legalized sports betting. According to experts, the activity could not have been regulated like a lottery. Rodrigo Alves, President of Abaesp, brought a clear example of why this could not have been done.
“In football itself, the winner of the match does not happen through a draw. It's a game, the game needs to happen so that we know who will win. The Mega-Sena is a raffle and serves as an example of what a lottery actually is. You will always take the odds; the odds are immutable. In it, the chance of you winning will always be one and fifty million, nothing will change that. And not in football. Team A or B can win or tie itself. And it doesn't depend on a lottery," Alves explained.
Witoldo Hendrich, Founding Partner at Hendrich Advogados, explained that in addition to the direct implications that this exchange generates, there is also the risk of high taxation. “Conceptually I could no longer call sports betting a lottery, but that's what they did. And then what are the repercussions. One, we have legislation that deals with the lottery and that talks about taxation. Then you arrive to talk to the people of the government, of the congress that in the whole world the rare cases where the player was taxed the experience was bad," he said.
"I think the best example for anyone who wants to research is France where bettors are taxed, and the countries around there have by far the worst scenario for sports betting, especially online. And then you go there and say you can't tax a player. And what is the answer we get from them? That they can do anything," he added.
On the other hand, Neil Montgomery, Founding and Managing Partner of Montgomery & Associados, pointed out that the creation of a regulatory agency would bring more security for everyone. “I work in another publicized market, which is that of airlines, so I have a lot of interaction with ANAC and I see how the aeronautical market works very well because it has a good regulatory agency, professional, objective, apolitical. So I think there should be a regulatory agency and I hope that the judiciary can't eventually be the big bad guy."
"Brazil is known worldwide for the number of passenger complaints, because there is even an industry that seeks to obtain undue gains from companies. I hope the players, Brazilian consumers do not create this industry that already affects other regular markets. But certainly an agency and a conscientious judiciary, educated in the rules of the law of the game, is very important.”
In this sense, Leandro Pamplona, Partner and Founder of BKP Advogados, also defended the use of legal arbitration to speed up the bettor's defense. “A prior possibility of arbitration would be the best solution. Because I'll be very honest, I work with consumer rights. As soon as there is regulation and we have the CNPJ of these companies in Brazil, which within the scope of ‘Reclame Aqui’ program has many citations automatically, it will be transferred to the judiciary and it will not be able to absorb it because we will have, among telephone companies, banks and others that deal with a lot of consumer relations, the gaming part will certainly have its chair captive in this situation.”
Finally, Witoldo Hendrich warned that given the scenario of a law with problems, operators will not find it easy to be attractive. “Where the market does not provide, the State hides, every time the market fails to deliver something, every time the Government fails to protect you, whenever whoever it is fails to deliver what the player needs, he uses a damn VPN and pays with crypto. So how are you going to make yourself attractive? I say don't go. Are you going to use the following, do I have a choice? No, I don't have a choice. I think the electricity in my house is expensive, but I can't get it with another one and I pay Light. But, if I could have electricity via VPN paying in crypto, I would, you know? It's just that I still can't. So that's it, it's not going to be attractive, we're going to have what they gave us,” he concluded.
BiS SiGMA Americas will run until the 18th, at the Transamérica Expo Center in São Paulo. In addition to panels on the main issues in the gaming and betting market, the meeting has already reached the status of the largest in Latin America with hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors.
Source: GMB
