Brazil to amend sports betting bill

Within the next few weeks, Brazilian lawmakers will be working on different amendments to the country’s sports betting bill. After a public consultation to gather ideas on the regulation of sports wagering, Ministry of Economy officials decided to introduce amendments in relation to three main aspects: taxation, foreign websites, and types of bets available.

In accordance with the results of the public consultation, betting market experts believe foreign platforms which are currently operating should be blocked, and taxes should be applied to bookmakers instead of on winnings.

Alexandre Manoel Angelo da Silva, Head of Public Policies, Planning, Energy and Lottery at the Ministry of Economy, said: "We believe the preliminary regulations have been widely welcomed, but the wording of some sections needs to be clarified, so we will focus on making some amendments in the next two or three weeks."

"Another topic to be reviewed is the penalties on illegal platforms and match-fixing activities. The bill includes one-to-five-year imprisonment sentences for illegal operators and two-to-eight-year imprisonment sentences for those who engage in match-fixing. In both cases, financial penalties would be imposed as well," he concluded.