“If it is necessary to use control bodies, they must be used. When we live in a society governed by the Constitution, we all have to respect the Constitution and the laws,” he said.
Dudena reinforced that the scope of the authorization of Loterj (Lottery of the State of Rio de Janeiro) is limited to the state sphere. “When a State is also allowed to operate a public service within the Brazilian federative model, it can only be done within its territory. The law does this, the Brazilian constitutional model provides for this,” he stated.
The secretary responsible for regulating sports betting in Brazil said, however, that he believes that the situation can be resolved without having to go to court.
“I do not see the need for legal action, since we have two federative entities that can grant it. If we respect our powers as a Union and the States and the Federal District respect theirs, I do not see the need,” he stated.
According to the secretary, 112 companies have applied to operate online betting in Brazil as of 2025. The number was updated in the interview given to Poder360. Previously, there was information that 108 bets requested accreditation from the Treasury.
Interpretation of Loterj
On July 31, the president of Loterj, Hazenclever Cançado, said that the license granted by the agency would allow not only operation in the state, but also nationwide. Thus, it would have the same scope as the one issued by the Ministry of Finance – whose grant is R$30 million (US$ 5.4m) to operate for 5 years.
“Our physical operation, such as scratch cards and prizes, is within the limits of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Our online operation – online sports betting and online casinos – has no limit in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is nationwide. So today the grant is R$5.2 million (US$ 944,000) for operation nationwide”, he stated to Poder360.
Other side: Loterj
Loterj (the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery) sent an official note to Poder360 at 8:50 pm on Sunday (September 22, 2024). It stated that the secretary is “wrong” and that the lottery regulated a law that gives online betting “the same legal and tax treatment as e-commerce” and that, in practice, “the supplier’s domicile is taxed, regardless of where the consumer’s domicile is.”
Read in full:
“The Secretary of Prizes and Betting is wrong. Loterj regulated Law 13.756/2018 in April 2023, giving online bets the same legal and tax treatment as e-commerce, that is, taxes are levied at the supplier's domicile, regardless of where the consumer's domicile is. The Union's regulation, which only came in December 2023, reserved the acts carried out by Loterj and the acquired right of operators in the eighth paragraph of art. 35-A of Law 14790/2023. The legal text states:
“'§ 8º All concessions, permissions, authorizations or direct explorations promoted by the States and the Federal District based on authorization procedures initiated before the publication of Provisional Measure No. 1,182, of July 24, 2023, are preserved and confirmed in their own terms, thus understood as those whose first corresponding public notice or call was published on a date prior to the publication of said Provisional Measure, regardless of the date of effective completion or issuance of the concession, permission or authorization, respecting the acquired right and perfect legal acts.'
“Therefore, the federal law itself reserved what was in previous regulations, which must be preserved so as not to violate the Constitution.”
Finance Ministry counts on Central Bank and Federal Police to monitor ‘Bets’
The Finance Ministry hopes to count on the Central Bank to monitor 'Bets'. Dudena stated that one of the objectives of this survey is to monitor the relationship between companies and financial institutions authorized by the monetary authority.
The Federal Police and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) are also agencies that should assist in the process, according to Dudena. They would be responsible for taking down websites that are not authorized to operate in the country.
“We have planned to interact with Anatel, the Federal Police, and security departments to ensure that websites that are being made available, which are not on the authorized list, are taken down,” he stated.
Another objective of the department is to map the size of the betting market. Companies authorized to operate in Brazil will need to provide reports, and monitoring cash flow should help achieve this objective.
“We will have direct contact with these companies and we will know, in fact, the size of the financial volumes, the size of the number of bettors that are engaged. So it is only from this moment on that we, as regulatory bodies of this sector, will have this exact number,” he stated.
Private sector studies mapping the size of the betting market would not serve as a parameter. The secretary said that the idea of the Finance is to have its own number. “It is obvious that there are several estimates and these estimates are often disparate from each other because they consider very different things”, he stated.
Integrated actions on the esplanade
Regis Dudena said that the creation of a working group with the Ministry of Health is in the plans of the betting secretariat. According to him, one of the central themes is the creation of a campaign on gambling addiction.
The agencies are studying the creation of an information booklet on the subject. The idea is for both ministries to work on exchanging information to develop joint policies. “This interaction will allow us to receive technical information and use it in our relationship with the betting houses.”
One of the secretary's expectations with the integration is to promote actions linked to the SUS (Unified Health System): "It allows us to share our information with the Ministry of Health so that the system can increase its capacity to receive potential people with problems [with gambling]."
Sports is another ministry considered a partner of the Prizes and Betting Secretariat. Part of the amount raised with the regulation of online betting should be transferred to actions to encourage sports practices. Of the total amount raised, 12% will go to different areas. Of this portion, 36% is earmarked for sports.
When asked how this transfer would be made and whether there would be the possibility of privileges for certain sports, the secretary passed the ball to the Ministry of Sports. He indicated that the team may eventually think of a way to make the distribution more equitable.
"In fact, how the resources that will be earmarked for sports will be used is the responsibility of the [Ministry of] Sports. It seems to me that it will make the best possible use, including eventually making these compensations,” he stated.
The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has two secretariats focused on betting. Understand the difference:
* Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (Ministry of Finance) – handles the regulatory issue. The head is Regis Dudena;
* Secretariat of Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports (Ministry of Sports) – handles sports integrity. It was created to monitor, for example, the manipulation of results. The head is Giovanni Rocco Neto.
Source: Poder360
