The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) welcomed the adoption of the sports betting law by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. The law introduces a regulatory and licensing system for operators in Brazil for both sports betting and online casinos. It also includes a range of integrity measures to combat sports betting-related match-fixing.
The law includes a requirement that sports betting operators are part of an international monitoring body; a provision that the IBIA says will help to ensure proper mechanisms are put in place to help protect operators, their customers, as well as sports, from potential fraud and manipulation. In addition, the ability for betting operators to suspend payments of bets for matches that are under investigation for potential corruption was also described as “important” by the association in protecting operators and deterring sports betting-related fraud.
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “This is a historic moment for sports betting in Brazil and is a major step forward in the fight against match-fixing. IBIA welcomes the adoption of specific betting integrity provisions in the law, which the association has been campaigning for since discussions on regulating sports betting began in 2018.”
“A number of Brazilian market-focused operators have already joined IBIA, and we look forward to engaging with other operators intent on offering well-protected sports betting products to Brazilian consumers via IBIA’s world-leading integrity network,” he added.
The International Betting Integrity Association is a not-for-profit body that has no competing conflicts from the delivery of commercial services to other sectors. The association claims to be run “by operators for operators.” It monitors approximately $150 billion in betting transactions on approximately 650,000 competitive sporting events globally.
According to H2 Gambling Capital IBIA members already account for over 60% of the remote gambling market in Brazil. In a press release, the Association said that its international monitoring and alert network will “provide accurate and detailed intelligence” on suspicious betting activity in Brazilian sports to betting regulators, law enforcement, and sports governing bodies.
“Although the new law is a very important milestone in the fight against match-fixing, there is no room for complacency. We are committed to working more closely and sharing our expertise with the Brazilian regulatory authorities on the implementing regulation on integrity, as well as with sports and law enforcement to ensure we more effectively detect, deter and sanction sports betting related match-fixing and fraud.”
Khalid Ali
Opening markets to licensed sports betting operators is key to protecting consumers and the integrity of sporting competitions from sports betting-related match-fixing, says the association. Regulated sports betting markets channel consumers away from the unregulated markets where most of the issues with match-fixing and corruption arise.
“Sports betting exists within a highly competitive international market and an overly burdensome framework of regulation and taxation will have the counterproductive, and unintended, consequence of driving sports betting customers into unregulated markets, reducing tax revenues, and increasing the risk of corruption and match-fixing,” IBIA said in a statement.
Therefore, whilst IBIA welcomes the fact that the Chamber of Deputies has resisted the temptation to impose higher levels of gambling taxation, the association warns that the impact of the overall tax burden and the substantial cost of the licensing fee, which remains BRL 30 million, may deter investments in Brazil.
“By opening up the market to licensed sports betting operators Brazil is sending a very important message to other markets in Latin America that a dynamic and competitive regulated sports betting framework with strong integrity provisions is essential to the fight against sports betting-related match-fixing,” the CEO concluded.