Zona de Azar Brazil – Brazil: Confederation Requests Gambling Law to be Declared Unconstitutional

Brazil.- September 26, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com The National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services, and Tourism (CNC) has filed a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) with the Supreme Federal Court (STF), requesting that Law 14.790/23 be declared unconstitutional by the court.

The law in question was responsible for regulating online betting in Brazil, and the case is now in the hands of STF Minister Luiz Fux.

The action was filed last Tuesday, the 24th, with the aim of having the law that regulates the betting sector declared unconstitutional. It is worth noting that the law was signed by President Lula at the end of 2023, and this year the legislative process, which took place in four phases, concluded on August 20.

According to Jornal de Brasília, the lawsuit seeks an injunction to urgently halt the enforcement of the law, thus interrupting the regulation process. In the lawsuit, the CNCN further claims that “the increase in the availability of sports betting in Brazil has proportionally triggered family indebtedness, leading a significant part of society to extremely high-risk financial behavior, severely affecting household economies, retail commerce, and social development.”

The exponential growth of sports betting in Brazil has directly impacted several national sectors. Retail and food industries had also expressed concerns about the risks of unchecked sector growth, which has directly affected the growth of other sectors in the country.

On the 20th of this month, the CNCN published a study comparing the growth of betting and casinos in the country with delinquency rates and decreased retail consumption. The study also states that, in the first half of this year, online casinos caused 1.3 million Brazilians to fall into delinquency, removing R$1.1 billion from national retail consumption.

For national entities, the sports betting market has developed without regulation and, while it has attracted serious companies, it has also drawn “adventurous betting houses with no commitment to integrity and responsibility.”

Edited by: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com