Brasilian Gaming Congress gathered 250 executives in Rio de Janeiro

The registration for the event started at 9 a.m., and around 10.30 it started the first day of conferences.

The welcome was in charge of Julian Graves, Managing Director of Clarion Events, who thanked visitors to assist to the congress, as well as BgC sponsors. Then, Fabio Cleto, Vice- President of Government and Lottery Funds, Caixa Economica Federal, remarked the importance of regulation of the online gambling sector, demanding the authorities its urgent implementation.

The first talk was focused on an economic vision of the Brazilian market, analyzing its economy and influence on consumers’ expenses, in particular in sports and entertainment. It was in charge of Bruno Reis (director of Eurasia Group) and Nikos Nokilakopuolos (Intralot Director for Latin America).

At midday, it was the turn to analize plans and opportunities to take advantage of the sportsbooks market facing the great events to be held in Brazil in the next two years. Participants were Fabio Cleto (CAIXA Económica Federal), Andre Gelfi (director of Codere Brasil), Risto Nieminen (President at National Olympic Committee of Finland), Luke Alvarez (CEO of Inspired Gaming Group) and Roberto Quattrini (director of Emerging Markets at Lottomática Group in Brazil).

Before lunch, Dale Sheehan (Director, Capacity Building and Training, INTERPOL), highlighted the most important aspects of integrity in sports.

At 2,30 p.m., a panel of regulators comprised by Carlos Silva Allende (director of the Legal Direction of SCJ in Chile), Fernando Paes Afonso (CEO of Santa Casa de Misericordia), Michael Ellen (director of Licenses and Strategy of the Alderney Gaming Commission)  and Giselle Brea (director of the Gambling Control Committee of Panama), moderated by Karen Sierra Hughes (director of Development for Latin America of GLI), highlighted the regulatory frames imposed on their regions, and the chances to be partially applied at the Brazilian market.

Finally, poker was discussed through a series of debates and talks in charge of lawyer Daniel Correa Homem de Carvalho, Steve Kraut (director of International Gaming Council), Birgitte Sand (director of the Gambling Authority of Denmark), Santiago Asensi (partner of Asensi Abogados), lawyer David Gzesh and legal specialist Wulf Hambach.

To conclude, the Brasilian Gaming Congress counted with the presence of Ronaldo a former football star and much known celebrity, who is now a professional poker player in Brazil, as well as the World Series of Poker champion, André Akkari.

For today, people in charge of the event have gathered important people to treat, from 10 a.m., important themes such as “Gambling in Brazil, paving the way to regulation”, “Assuring integrity in sports” and •Technical Aspects and Standards for the best practices in a regulated market,” offering a complement to the issues treated on the first day, in an event that no doubt offers a new opportunity for the Brazilian market to reach the desired gaming regulation. 

 “Brazil is a very important market at different levels. At an economical and social level it has a growing middle class, and politically there is now a will to debate the benefits of regulation, including best practices in regulation and operation of games worldwide,” explained Kate Chambers, who is in charge of the portfolio of conferences of Clarion and ICE Totally Gaming.

BgC is supported by Codere of Brazil, Betconstruct, GLI, Inspired Gaming Group, NYX Gaming Group, Tradologic and SAGSE. It is also covered by media such as Band TV, BNL and Yogonet.

On top of the well-known brands, several leading regulators and representatives of the industry travelled to Brazil from Spain, Italy, France, Denmark, Finland, the UK and the US, to name just a few countries. Important Latin American figures were present  from Chile, Uruguay, Peru and Argentina. 

Other speakers taking part are: Dr Sergio Ricardo Martins de Almeida (President of LOTERJ Lottery from Río de Janeiro) and Mike O'Kane (Business Director at Ladbrokes and Chief Bookmaker/ Board Member at European Association of Sports Security - ESSA).