Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has appointed Senator Ciro Nogueira to the post of Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic. It’s equivalent to chief of staff, though the minister is also a member of the president’s cabinet.
Nogueira authored the bill to bring back gaming to the country, and some see his appointment as a sign that his bill will gain momentum.
“We are going to put a senator here in the Civil House who can maintain a better dialogue with the Brazilian parliament,” said Bolsonaro.
Nogueira is a gaming specialist. His comprehensive bill would regulate jogo do bicho, bingo, electronic games, video lotteries, video bingo, resort casinos, online sports betting games and online bingo games.
Recently he declared, “The return of the gaming sector is almost a reality. It is a path of no return. Data that we had access to reveal that the majority of the population is in favor of regulating the activity. About 600 thousand direct jobs throughout the country could be created and it will be possible to collect R$ 20 billion per year with taxes coming from the betting world.”
Pointing out that gaming is ubiquitous in Brazil, he added, “So, let’s get the benefits of the game, because today, we only have the harms. Everything has to be regulated.”
Brazil is also looking at legalizing sports betting. At a recent webinar entitled “Sports betting, a great opportunity for the country,” Brazil’s Ministry of Economy, Gustavo Guimarães moderated. The webinar was organized by the Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP).
Guimarães said, “Since 2019, we have been discussing with the market players about adjustments to the sports betting law (13,756). Throughout this period, SECAP discussed the dynamics of the activity with the market and other regulatory bodies. It is a great source of revenue for important public policies, but we knew that the turnover tax base was not the most appropriate. We observed in other parts of the world that the GGR is the model adopted and the most correct one. We believe that this recent change goes in the direction of the best practices observed in the rest of the world.”
Guimarães said the regulation of sports betting may happen by December 2022 but he would not like to wait that long to begin sports betting operations. “We are working on all fronts to privatize the sports betting sector as quickly as possible,” he said.
Ludovico Calvi, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Global Lottery Monitoring System also spoke. He said online betting’s growth “has been exponential.”
The challenge of regulating online betting “is to find a balance between the needs of the market and the social needs of a country,” Calvi said. “To create a competitive market, it is important to attract interested parties to invest in the country, create jobs, and help the economy. On the other hand, there has to be a safeguard for tax revenues and a law that reinforces responsible gambling and protects bettors against illegal gambling.”
