Bet do Flamengo Offers Bets on the Next Pope

Brazil – April 29, 2025 www.zonadeazar.com According to Estadão, FlaBet, Flamengo’s official betting house, managed by the club’s main sponsor Pixbet, offered on its platform a market for betting on who would be the next pope elected by the Catholic Church’s conclave. However, the opening of this market directly violates current regulations in Brazil.

According to Article 3 of Law No. 14,790, enacted in December 2023, only bets on real sporting events or online virtual games are permitted. Thus, any betting related to political or religious events is expressly prohibited.

The Ministry of Finance reinforced that this type of bet is illegal and announced the opening of a supervisory process against the company. Pixbet, in turn, claimed that the inclusion of the bet occurred due to an “operational error by the international market provider” and removed the market from the platform after being contacted by Estadão. So far, Flamengo has not commented on the matter.

During the time it was available on FlaBet’s website, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin was the favorite to succeed Pope Francis, followed by Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő.

The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance issued an official statement confirming that it detected the irregularity and initiated a supervisory action. According to the legislation, severe penalties are foreseen for this infraction. As stated in Article 41 of Law 14,790, the infringing company may be warned or fined up to R$2 billion and, in serious cases, have its operating license revoked.

“The company will be notified to remove all bets that are not in compliance with the legislation, allowing only fixed-odds bets on sports events and online games.”

Edited by: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com