Zona de Azar Brazil – Brazil: For José Manssur, the Ban on Sports Betting is an Unjustifiable Setback

Brazil.- October 31, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com – José Francisco Cimino Manssur, a specialist in sports law and guest lecturer at USP, analyzes the regulation of sports betting and online gaming in Brazil.

Until February of this year, he served as a special advisor to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for regulating this sector. With this experience, he shares his perspective on the issue and recent statements from President Lula and Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco about a possible ban on the activity in Brazil.

In his article on the Poder 360 portal, he highlights that over a hundred companies have shown confidence in this regulation by submitting detailed requests to the Ministry of Finance to operate in the country.

Manssur also emphasizes the long process Brazil undertook to regulate its betting market, culminating in Law 13,756 of 2018 and various regulatory decrees. “International experts already recognize Brazilian regulation as one of the most modern and restrictive in the world,” he notes.

Manssur argues, “To ban betting now, even before companies are authorized or shortly thereafter, and especially before seeing the practical results of the regulation, would mean that the entire process initiated over the past two years would have been in vain, and all the efforts and resources of companies interested in operating in the regulated market in Brazil would have been absolutely futile.”

Possible Ban on Sports Betting

Manssur also questions the implications of a possible ban at this time. He asks, “What image of Brazil’s legal security would be conveyed to the world? A country that regulates a specific market, demands an extensive process for obtaining licenses, only to shut it down before the process is even concluded?”

The specialist raises practical concerns about the consequences of a potential ban. First, he questions the fate of the funds already paid for licenses. Then, he addresses the impact on jobs generated by the sector.

Moreover, he argues that the effectiveness of a ban as a way to prevent problems is questionable. To illustrate his point, he cites the historical example of Prohibition in the United States.

In this context, Manssur suggests that prohibition is ineffective in addressing problems like gambling addiction. Instead, he suggests that proper regulation can offer more meaningful results than a ban.

Manssur states, “The effectiveness of a mere and simple prohibition as a means of preventing people from, for example, becoming addicted to gambling is highly questionable.”

Legal Action

The author also comments on a legal action filed by the CNC (National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services, and Tourism). Consequently, the confederation seeks to annul Law 14,790 of 2023.

This law, in turn, regulates betting in Brazil. However, Manssur notes that the CNC did not challenge Law 13,756 of 2018, which initially legalized online betting.

Citing Luiz Felipe Santoro, president of the OAB/SP’s Gaming, Betting, and Responsible Gaming Law Committee, he reinforces, “The Confederation of Commerce wants betting to remain legalized, but without any regulation, as it was from 2018 to 2022.”

Manssur concludes his argument by questioning who would benefit from a situation of legalization without regulation. Thus, he mentions that it was precisely the lack of regulation that exacerbated the recently publicized problems.

Edited by: @_fonta Zona de Azar