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A special commission in Brazil’s Senate has endorsed new legislation to prohibit bets on “isolated events” within games, as part of a broader set of initiatives to mitigate risks of match-fixing.
The Senate’s special investigatory commission (CPI) on match-fixing voted Wednesday (March 19) to formally approve a comprehensive 692-page report and conclude its 11-month probe into high-profile allegations of betting-related corruption in Brazilian football.
Among a series of recommendations is new legislation to amend Brazil’s December 2023 federal law on online betting and require the Ministry of Finance to adopt additional regulations “to restrict the offer of bets involving isolated events occurring during real sporting events”.
The proposed bill does not specify which forms of events should be banned, but an accompanying section of the CPI’s report cites risks related to bets on yellow or red cards in football and specifically the high-profile allegations made against West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paquetá.
Introducing his report before the commission, the panel’s rapporteur, Senator Romário, acknowledged that Brazil’s sports-betting market was entirely unregulated when the CPI kicked off its investigation last April, whereas now-licensed operators are subject to specific regulations to protect consumers and prevent underage gambling.
Still, the legendary former footballer said that imposing a ban on proposition bets on isolated events would be a “way of protecting the integrity of sport”.
“These one-off bets create an environment ripe for manipulation, in which gamblers and criminal groups can easily influence small events within a game, without necessarily affecting the outcome of the match,” Romário told fellow senators.
Restrictions on prop bets are one of two policy recommendations made by the commission that would change the state of play for Brazil’s newly licensed online gambling operators.
In addition, the CPI’s report calls for separate legislative changes to require operators to clearly inform bettors of the risks of losing money and problem gambling whenever they register for an account or access a betting platform.
Despite the launch of the new regulatory regime, Romário’s report found that various licensed betting sites and apps currently allow players to log on without receiving any such warning message.
Elsewhere, the CPI’s report calls for stiffer legal criminal penalties for match-fixing, for Brazil to join the global Macolin Convention on match-fixing and for three named individuals, including Paquetá’s uncle, to face criminal indictment for betting-related corruption.
Senate Scrutiny Ongoing
The adoption of the CPI’s report authored by Romário is only an initial step towards enacting reforms to restrict bet types.
To become law, the draft legislation included in the CPI’s report would need to be voted on and approved by both the Senate and the lower house of Congress. It would also need to be signed by President Lula da Silva, who previously said he would support a ban on certain bet types in an interview last year.
At the same time, the CPI on match-fixing is just one of several fronts where Brazil’s Federal Senate is set to influence Brazilian gambling policy over the coming months.
A separate CPI with a broader mandate to investigate the online betting industry remains active. After hearing last week from Brazil’s most senior federal tax official, the CPI on betting held a further public meeting on Tuesday to take testimony from a high-profile lawyer named in past police investigations into offshore gambling sites.
On a separate front, legislation to authorize land-based casinos and bingo halls is due to be brought up for a final vote on the Senate floor in the coming months, after a planned vote in December was postponed.
Meanwhile, the Senate’s sports committee is also set to hold at least two hearings on issues related to sports betting.
Last week, the sports committee resolved to hold public hearings on two contrasting bills to either ban the use of athletes or celebrities in any advertising for betting sites, or alternatively prohibit all gambling ads altogether.
On Wednesday, the sports committee approved another resolution introduced by one prominent anti-gambling senator to call an additional hearing to examine the effectiveness of Brazil’s new regulatory regime, enforcement actions against illegal sites and measures being taken to combat risks of match-fixing.
