On Wednesday (21), 15 appointments of officials were made for the newly created Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), which will oversee the process of publishing regulations governing sports betting in Brazil.
The secretary's position has not yet been filled, and until then, Simone Aparecida Vicentini, as deputy secretary, will lead the process, as one of the duties of the position is to replace the secretary. Simone Vicentini previously served as the general coordinator of betting at the former Ministry of Economy. She was a direct appointment by the Chief Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa.
Daniela Olímpio de Oliveira was appointed as the undersecretary for authorization, and Raiana Luiza de Andrade Falcão Ferreira as the undersecretary for enforcement action. Both will be subordinated, at least initially, to Simone Vicentini, and were also direct appointments by Rui Costa. The appointment for the undersecretary for monitoring and enforcement is still pending, a structure defined upon the creation of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting.
The SPA will have three deputy secretariats:
1. The Authorization Subsecretariat will handle the analysis of requests for authorization of actions involving the free distribution of prizes through raffles, giveaways, contests, or similar operations; early capture of popular savings; exploration of fixed-odds betting and other lottery modalities; as well as sweepstakes and lotteries organized by entities promoting horse racing.
2. The Monitoring and Inspection Subsecretariat will supervise and carry out inspection actions related to the modalities authorized by the Authorization Subsecretariat.
3. The Sanctioning Action Subsecretariat will adjudicate Administrative Sanctioning Procedures in the first instance, observing the legal and infralegal limits and competencies provided, as well as reconsideration and review requests filed in these processes.
The SPA's activities will be conducted in coordination with the Ministry of Sports, which has been assigned responsibilities related to sports integrity, particularly monitoring match-fixing in sports events, as well as responsibilities related to funding for athletes, clubs, and sports administration entities
According to Minister Fernando Haddad, the Finance Ministry insisted that sports integrity responsibilities remain with the Sports Ministry, headed by André Fufuca, appointed by the PP. "It's important that this remains there because we don't even have the technical competence to carry out this type of monitoring. So, it's about ensuring that there is no manipulation of results. This is a task that, in our understanding, belongs to the Ministry of Sports," said the minister to journalists last Monday (19/2).
In the Deputy Secretariat, Simone Aparecida Vicentini will oversee the secretariat until a titular is appointed. Until then, she was the General Coordinator of Betting at the Finance Ministry. An expert in Constitutional and Administrative Law, Vicentini has extensive experience in legal advisory roles for public bodies in both direct and indirect administration—cabinet advisory, executive advisory, chief of staff, Administration and Fiscal Councils, and management of legal departments.
Also, as a lawyer, Raiana Luiza de Andrade Falcão Ferreira specializes in compliance. In the federal government, she worked as a manager in formulating and executing public policies for human rights, dealing with topics such as business and human rights, corruption and human rights, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) in companies.
In the private sector, Raiana has experience in compliance and governance in the health sector and currently in the telecommunications sector. She has extensive experience in institutional articulation, focusing on dialogues with authorities at the level of State Secretariats of Justice and Human Rights, as well as various federal bodies and the Justice System; resource management and partnership agreement instruments at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
On the other hand, Daniela Olimpio de Oliveira is a researcher in tax justice and a professor of tax law, public finance, and economic history. She was an associate professor at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) in Minas Gerais from 2014 to 2022 and was the deputy secretary of Bids in the Municipality of Juiz de Fora (MG) in 2021.
The Official Gazette also lists the following appointments:
André Luiz Gonçalves Garcia - general coordinator for betting authorization
Antônia Alberlania Ferreira Rufino - technical assistant for coordination of authorization and accountability of the general coordination for authorization of commercial promotions:
Dayane Rodrigues de Souza - technical assistant for general regulation coordination
Frederico Alves Soares Justo - general coordinator for money laundering monitoring
Kelvin Gabriel da Costa Coelho - technical assistant for the undersecretary for enforcement action
Leilla Raphaella da Silva Ferreira - technical assistant for responsible gaming coordination
Letícia Soeiro - coordinator for responsible gaming monitoring
Lília Alves Pereira - assistant
Marcelo Damato - executive assistant
Marluce dos Santos Borges - chief of staff
Renato Perez Pucci - general coordinator of systems
Rosângela Fragoso de Mendonça Santiago - staff assistant
Source: GMB
