At the end of last month, the government published a Provisional Measure (PM) to regulate sports betting in Brazil, a necessary initiative in view of the significant expansion of the activity worldwide, the legal vacuum existing in the country and the numerous frauds that have arisen, affecting the credibility of the sport. Planalto is now preparing a structure to oversee the new rules.
The plan is to create the National Secretariat for Prizes and Bets, linked to the Ministry of Finance. The team should bring together agents from the Federal Police (PF) and the Council for the Control of Financial Activities (Coaf), who will begin to monitor betting companies, known as bets. By design, the new structure, created by decree, will have 54 to 65 positions and an estimated cost of R$ 4 million (US$ 805m) per year. It will be divided into four sub-secretariats: accreditation, monitoring, inspection and sanction.
From what is known, it is clear that the government is essentially concerned with revenue. Not that this isn't important. Undoubtedly, one of the reasons that require the regulation of betting in Brazil is the need to tax companies that operate in a lucrative sector with enormous growth potential. Nothing fairer than contributing to the State. A good part of the money collected will be destined to important items of the Budget, such as social security, Ministry of Sport, National Public Security Fund and basic education, in addition to the clubs themselves.
According to the government's estimate, the taxation of betting companies will provide revenue of around R$ 2 billion (US$ 405m) in 2024, and the amount could reach R$ 12 billion (US$ 2.4bn) in the coming years. According to the rules established in the PM, the rate will be 18% on gross revenue. The operating license will cost R$ 30 million (US$ 6.05m). The Ministry of Finance calculates that at least 70 companies are interested in regularizing their situation, a modest number considering that around 500 operate in the country.
As important as it is to tax these companies at a time when increasing revenue will be necessary to meet fiscal framework targets, the sports betting issue cannot be reduced to revenue. This was evident when the scandal of match-fixing to encourage fraudulent betting came to light at the beginning of the year. Investigations by the police and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Goiás showed that players received bribes to commit penalties and take cards in regional and national championships, in order to generate profits for gambling gangs.
Of course, it will be necessary to monitor whether companies will comply with the obligations set out in the regulation, but it is also necessary to take care of the sporting part, as the games — and everything connected to them — are the object of the bets. The scheme revealed by the MP of Goiás, broader than imagined, affects the credibility of Brazilian football. That is why federations, clubs, athletes, CBF and the Ministry of Sports should also be involved in monitoring. If the fan loses confidence in the championships, the bets will no longer make sense and, without them, there will be no collection. Everyone will lose.
Source: O Globo
