Brazil Develops System to Block Athletes from Online Betting
Brazil.- 20 August 2026 | www.zonadeazar.com Brazil’s Federal Government is developing a new system designed to prevent active registered athletes from accessing authorised online betting platforms.
The initiative will create a centralised database containing athletes’ CPF identification numbers and provide that information to betting operators so affected accounts can be blocked.
Automatic Blocking of Athletes
The project was announced by Giovanni Rocco, Secretary for Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sport, a department linked to the Ministry of Sport.
The system is intended to cover all active federated athletes, regardless of the sport in which they compete.
The proposal is designed to turn an existing legal restriction into an automated enforcement mechanism.
Restriction Already Established by Law
Law 14.790, which established Brazil’s regulatory framework for fixed-odds betting, prohibits certain participants in the sporting ecosystem from gambling.
Those covered include:
- Athletes.
- Referees.
- Coaching and technical staff.
- Sports officials.
- Regulators.
- Other professionals capable of directly or indirectly influencing competitions.
The new system is intended to make compliance with this prohibition easier for authorised betting operators.
CPF Database
The Government plans to build a specific database containing the identification details of registered athletes.
CPF numbers included in the system will be provided to betting companies, which will be expected to use them to prevent affected individuals from registering or accessing their platforms.
The mechanism should reduce reliance on individual checks carried out separately by each operator.
Government Identifies Information Gap
Giovanni Rocco also highlighted what he described as an information gap among athletes themselves.
According to the official, many sportspeople are not sufficiently aware that Brazilian law prohibits them from betting.
Alongside the technological system, authorities may therefore need to strengthen communication and educational initiatives directed at the sports sector.
Protecting Sporting Integrity
Restrictions preventing athletes and other directly involved participants from betting form part of wider measures designed to protect sporting integrity.
A centralised identification system could make it easier to detect attempted access to betting platforms and reduce risks linked to conflicts of interest or competition manipulation.
Brazil Pursues Latin American Match-Fixing Framework
During the same event, Rocco said Brazil intends to work towards a Latin American version of the Macolin Convention, the international treaty designed to prevent, detect and combat manipulation of sports competitions.
Brazil became the first country outside Europe to participate in the Convention.
The Government has begun discussions around a regional initiative involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sports federations and other organisations across Latin America.
Rocco also referred to discussions with a CONMEBOL representative on the initiative.
Around 5 Million People Already Blocked
The athlete database will expand a broader system of betting restrictions that already covers approximately 5 million people in Brazil.
This includes around:
- 3 million Bolsa Família and Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC) recipients.
- 1.2 million people registered through the Federal Government’s centralised self-exclusion system.
- 827,000 participants in the Desenrola debt-renegotiation programme.
Participation in Desenrola requires individuals to accept a one-year restriction from accessing online betting platforms.
Next Steps or Impact
The athlete-blocking system remains under development and no definitive launch date has yet been announced.
Once implemented, authorised operators will have access to an official database enabling them to identify and automatically block athletes who are legally prohibited from gambling.
The initiative strengthens Brazil’s move towards centralised access restrictions while adding another tool designed to protect sporting integrity within the regulated betting market.
Editó: @fonta
