The Secretary of Prizes and Bets (SPA), Regis Dudena, even stated that the list of ‘Bets’ - as they are called in Brazil - that will continue operating was difficult to prepare and that “it will only be released when we are certain.”
This certainty came around 9 pm this Tuesday (2). One of the difficulties was the presentation in the Betting Management System of the corporate name and not the brands and domains to be used by the companies that were qualified in Sigap. The department had to link each company name to brands and domains before finalizing the list.
In total, 95 companies, representing 198 sports betting and online gaming websites, are on the list released by SPA. In addition, the department sent a letter to the 26 states and the Federal District requesting that they send lists of companies authorized at the state level.
The information sent by the federative units up until the time the list was released has already been included in a supplementary list.
The difficulty in the delay in releasing the list was not limited to identifying and relating corporate names to domains. The injunction issued by the Federal Court suspending SPA ordinances also left the government apprehensive about ordering the blocking of websites of companies that did not apply for a license.
The order to block websites that are not on the list still depends on an assessment by the Ministry of Finance, the Prizes and Betting Secretariat and the Attorney General's Office, due to an injunction issued by the Federal Court of the 1st Region, granted to Loterj and suspending ordinances that regulate sports betting and online gaming in Brazil.
With the court order, the Ministry of Finance may have to wait for an appeal from the Attorney General's Office to determine the blocking of sites not included in the list released by the Prizes and Betting Secretariat.
Regarding this issue, Fernando Haddad said that “it makes no sense for a state to have a national lottery,” while at the same time the federal government regulates the sector throughout the country. Just as it has been acting in court, the Ministry of Finance will continue working to overturn the possibility of Rio de Janeiro licensing betting houses to operate throughout the national territory.
For Haddad, “a person has to be in Rio de Janeiro to play in a virtual lottery in Rio de Janeiro and not in another state.” The minister also admitted that it would be difficult for the government to provide the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) with a list of irregular bets. “We are not able to scan the entire internet in a short time,” he said.
Sites that are not on the list released by the Treasury can no longer offer bets nationwide. They will remain online for the next ten days, only to facilitate bettors' requests for the return of the money deposited in their names with these companies.
As of October 11, these sites will begin to be taken down, with the help of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). Even after this date, it will continue to be the responsibility of the site operators to ensure that bettors have the means to withdraw the deposits to which they are entitled.
Source: GMB
