Regulation in Brazil

Magnho José: "The Brazilian Government must create effective solutions to fight illegal gambling"

Magnho José
2025-02-04
Reading time 1:23 min

Illegal gambling is still very strong in Brazil and the government needs to think of solutions to fight the illegal market. This is what Magnho José, President of the Brazilian Legal Gaming Institute (IJL) and editor of the website BNLData, said in an interview with Gaming Intelligence Español.

Winner of the ICE Landmark Award for his contribution to the gaming sector, Magnho stated that he considers the Brazilian regulation ‘one of the most modern in the world’, but there are still challenges to be faced.

"It is commendable the work of the Secretariat of Prizes and Gaming of the Ministry of Finance, which put together 11 ordinances, consulted and implemented the best world practices for the operation of gambling in the country. Now [...] the next steps have to be effective in combating illegal gambling," Magnho said.

"The time has come to create mechanisms, to build solutions to give legal certainty to operators who abide by the regulations and operate within the rules instituted by the Government," he added.

Between October 2024 and January 2025, the Ministry of Finance ordered the blocking of over 9,000 illegal websites. However, it is still possible to find platforms that have not acquired a federal or state license operating in the country. 

The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) itself has acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining an effective block since illegal operators create new domains as soon as the previous one is removed. Another problem that persists is the 'invasion' of illegal gambling platforms on the websites of public organizations.

In the interview, Magnho also addressed expectations about the legalization of land-based casinos, with bill 2.234/22 pending a vote in the full Senate.

"If the bill is approved in the Senate, we will have gaming legislation in Brazil by 2025, to give legal certainty to all operators who want to work in the country. We hope that it will not take six years to regulate physical gambling, which is what it took to regulate online gambling, that ended up generating the consequences and problems we are facing today," Maghno concluded.

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