The regulation of the gambling sector in Brazil is currently in vogue due to discussion both in the National Congress and among the population. Therefore, the possibility of wide release of games and bets became the subject of the program ‘O Grande Debate’, last Tuesday, 14th, on CNN Brasil.
With the presentation by Carol Nogueira, the topic was debated between Felipe Carreras (Federal Deputy and rapporteur of the Working Group on the Regulatory Framework for Games in Brazil) and Cezinha de Madureira (federal deputy and president of the Evangelical Parliamentary Front). Over 45 minutes, the two deputies presented their arguments against and in favor of releasing the practice in Brazil.
“It’s not prohibited betting games in Brazil. Everyone knows that there are lotteries, like Mega-Sena, Quina, scratch cards and there are more than 15 thousand lotteries spread in Brazil. It is a fallacy to say that gambling in Brazil doesn’t exist. This is part of the culture and daily life of the Brazilian people”, pointed out Carreras.
He also revealed that there are more than “450 betting sites with football, NBA, American football lotteries and amazingly: it has online casino, online bingo, online poker and more than 30 betting products in Brazilian hands
Congressman Felipe Carreras presented data on the betting market
The federal deputy also defended the release with some important data: “the official Bank lotteries, which operate gambling in Brazil, last year raised 74 billion reais. These online gambling games are estimated to multiply by five the amount of funds that are not being collected by the government. What we propose is through the law, through legislation, to generate taxes, income, opportunities and jobs. We need to leave the fantasy Brazil and go to the real Brazil. The games are happening and there is no possibility of not having a game”.
In addition, Carreras recalled that a good part of the amounts obtained by lotteries finance social programs, such as educational, cultural and public health actions. “For those who don’t know a large part of the funds raised by the official lotteries of the Federal Government, around 37 billion reais, finance sports, culture, education, health, even the Red Cross receives funds from these bets”.
He added: “In our proposal, we want to include a tax on everything that will be collected from games to have more resources for health, education, sports. With the game being made in a responsible, balanced way and with all the digital tools, Brazil can take a step forward and raise money”.
Deputy Cezinha de Madureira cites problem with gambling
Contrary to the regulation of games in Brazil, deputy Cezinha de Madureira said he does not believe that tourism will benefit from the activity. “They say that the world will come to play in Brazil, I don’t believe in this scenario. We cannot make Brazil, which has not gone beyond an education in this sense, to adopt an agenda all of a sudden, so that our elderly and retired people, who sometimes have no control of the family, can compulsively put their lives in a game”.
And he added: “if today in illegality we already have thousands of people getting poor and going bankrupt, imagine if this is legal. Therefore, we from the evangelical bench, conservatives, are against the legalization of gambling. I believe it will bring more harm to Brazilian families if they legalize the gambling”.
The deputy presented figures for countries neighboring Brazil that already have regularized markets: “With what is collected in neighboring countries with regularized markets, when you add up to what is collected to spend on security, inspection, costs of public services to maintain on day, the account does not close. This is not a usual agenda, it is an agenda of ideas that are being debated”.
Carreras talks about the creation of the National Register of Players
On the other hand, deputy Felipe Carreras pointed out that thousands of Brazilians are in informality due to the lack of regulation for the modalities of games. “The Government has to face this. We have to look at the worker who is informal and deserves to have a signed work card. Brazil needs to make this recognition and we have the courage to face it”.
The rapporteur of the Working Group in the Chamber of Deputies also considered that the government will be able to control the game after the creation of the National Register of Gambling Players. “With registration, we will have legal, responsible, safe gambling with rules and with the state collecting. The game that the state will be able to take care of the ludopath, today unfortunately, the way it is, there is no way to take care of it”.
The deputy showed confidence in the approval of the Regulatory Framework for Gambling this year. “I’m very confident, hopeful, the project has matured. When we look at the G20 world, the countries that have the largest economies in the world, only 3 countries do not have legal games: Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, and these two countries are Islamic. If we have all these big countries with regulated games, why doesn’t Brazil have it?”.
And he concluded: “these large integrated gaming centers could bring thousands of jobs and opportunities. Online games that are in the palm of the hand of Brazilians, with games happening without collecting anything, could generate millions of taxes for health, education, sports. Anyway, we believe and I think we are going to approve the Regulatory Framework for Gambling in Brazil this year.”
Watch the Great Debate on the regulation of gambling in full:
