The discussion takes place at a time when parliamentarians and the federal government are studying adjustments to the legislation amid the explosion of betting in the country.
Earlier this month, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, himself stated that it is urgent to take measures to restrict advertising by sports betting houses on television and other media.
"We understand that it is urgent to take measures to prevent this harassment on television, by the media," he said after meeting with representatives of the Advertising Self-Regulation Council (Conar), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert) and the International Broadcasting Association (AIR).
The president of the PT Party, federal deputy Gleisi Hoffmann, has also publicly advocated that parliamentarians analyze possible adjustments to the rule in 2024. She presented a bill that deals with the ban on advertisements. "We need to do something this year, we have to be aware of what we have caused, our responsibility, and what can be done. This is also the responsibility of Congress," she told Folha in September.
According to Lira, the idea is not to do anything "in a rush," but rather to think about and debate it among parliamentarians. He mentioned in private conversations that dozens of bills have been recently presented on 'Bets' and that caution is needed to avoid rushing discussions.
Despite this, there is currently no proposal being debated by the leaders in this regard—the leadership group has not met for over a month to discuss the plenary agenda, and the Chamber is empty due to the municipal elections. The expectation is that this and other topics can begin to be discussed in November, with the resumption of legislative activities.
Also to interlocutors, the Speaker of the Chamber criticized proposals that aim to prohibit the use of the Bolsa Família card for betting, stating that this could stigmatize beneficiaries of the social program.
In September, a technical note made by the Central Bank indicated that Bolsa Família beneficiaries spent R$3 billion (US$ 528m) on bets via Pix alone and in the month of August. A study commissioned by the betting sector estimates that people covered by the program spent R$210 million (US$ 37m) on this type of site that month.
Source: Folha
