According to the “Joint Declaration of Brazilian Clubs”, 15 of the 20 teams in the 1st division of the Brazilian championship have betting companies as master sponsors and 19 of the 20 have some type of sponsorship.
Cruzeiro, Fluminense, Botafogo, Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama, São Paulo, Corinthians, Atlético-MG, Internacional, Grêmio, Juventude, Cuiabá, Athletico-PR, Fortaleza, Bahia, Atlético-GO, Criciúma, Red Bull Bragantino, Vitória, América-MG, Ceará, Avaí, Ponte Preta, Guarani-SP, Joinville, Vila Nova-GO, Brusque, Paysandu, Hercílio Luz e Barra FC são are the teams that are present in the declaration.
The manifesto says that fixed-odds bets are important for paying off the clubs' debts and hiring players. In the clubs' view, the money from bets has allowed Brazilian football to become more competitive in the world and in Latin America.
The teams argue that the ban on bets will not eliminate virtual games, so it is better to keep the regulation on the path that has been outlined in Brazil.
“The clubs will lose a vital source of revenue,” the note states. The teams also point out that, without bets, they will be alone in combating match-fixing. The note also draws attention to the fact that bets have become sponsors of women's football in the country.
"I understand that it was an extremely productive hearing. Football managed to play its role and show its point of view, as it understands that all regulations can be better, but prohibition is never the way forward," explains André Sica, partner at CSMV Advogados.
"Football managed to demonstrate a very strong mobilization force. Through the space granted and the powers granted by Fluminense, we managed to get 30 Brazilian football clubs to join and issued a very strong statement, showing, in general terms, the sector's position," he concludes.
Cruzeiro representative, Antônio Carlos de Almeida Castro, was emphatic in saying that the ban on betting in the country “will be the end of football in Brazil.”
In his opinion, without betting, football cannot survive in Brazil, since betting has become the main source of funding for sports activities.
According to him, small clubs will go bankrupt because Brazilian football is going through a different phase and betting has become crucial for the teams. ‘Kakay’, as he is known, argued that the regulations in the country are good and still need to be implemented.
Botafogo representative Jonas Decorte Marmello said that thanks to the financing of betting, Brazilian football is more competitive in the world. According to him, even with the exchange rate disparity, there are now investors in Brazilian football who can retain and bring in quality players.
“If the ‘Bets’ are banned or poorly regulated, we are doomed to the collapse of the Brazilian football industry,” he said.
Source: Valor
