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The Ministry of Sports has confused the Brazilian gambling market by publishing an ordinance limiting players to only wager on esports accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Ordinance 125, which was published on December 31, 2024, just before Brazil's regulated market went live, has an article that states only betting on esports “recognised by the International Olympic Committee” is allowed.
The IOC's Olympics Esports Series of 2023 was limited to virtual games based on just six esports: archery; baseball; bicycle; chess; dance; and motorsport. It is not clear to what extent that range of esports will be expanded for the upcoming Olympic Esports Games in Saudi Arabia later this year.
In a different article of the ordinance, related to traditional sports, the text is extremely specific.
Fixed-odds bets may be placed on sports “recognised by the International Olympic Committee”, encompassing a list of more than 60 such sporting events. Other sports that are not covered by the IOC list are included in subsequent articles in the ordinance.
Esports are only addressed by the single line of the ordinance and there is no further list of which esports that might entail.
Udo Seckelmann, a gaming lawyer in Brazil with Bichara e Motta law firm, told Vixio GamblingCompliance: “The Ministry of Sports has only permitted bets on esports recognised by the IOC which excludes several esports games. Hopefully, they will update this to include more, which is a possibility according to the ordinance.”
Despite that possibility, operators remain nervous “because without operators being able to offer bets on esports, the marketing/sponsorships by operators are likely to be reduced too”, Seckelmann said.
There are suspicions that the Ministry of Sports may have simply made an error using the IOC as a guideline for esports as officials used the same framework for traditional sports.
Seckelmann could only comment that “the Ministry of Sports did not make any public statement on that since the ordinance came out”.
Currently, Brazil-licensed operators are offering varying ranges of esports, from none at all to a full range of popular contests.
The Ministry of Sports has stated that it will update its list of permissible sports “based on the judgement of convenience and opportunity, the inclusion of new sports in accordance with their regulations and recognition by official sports entities.”
The ordinance came into effect on January 1 of this year.
