The bill on the regulation of sports betting, approved in the Chamber of Deputies last month , brought a change in relation to the current provisional measure on the subject: the exclusion of defaulters from the list of people prohibited from betting .

The approved text will now be analyzed by the Senate, where it may undergo modifications proposed by senators.

Senators could submit amendments to the bill until last Wednesday (4). Among the 49 proposed amendments, one once again includes people with debts in the gambling ban.

If the change is approved by the senators, the text will return to the Chamber, where the deputies can choose to accept the change or maintain the text as it was originally approved. Only then will the regulation of betting be submitted for presidential sanction.

Ban on indebted gamblers

Provisional measure no. 1,182/23, approved in July of this year and in force until November 21 of this year after an extension, prohibited the participation of people registered in national credit protection registries as gamblers.

UNDERSTAND: The bill that was voted on in the Chamber incorporated a large part of the provisional measure, but removed the clause that dealt with defaulters.

Senator Soraya Thronicke’s proposal is to transform the topic into a new article in the legislation, prohibiting the participation of defaulting players in sports betting.

The amendment highlights that the Executive Branch will determine the measures that the operating agent must adopt within 90 days to avoid non-compliance with the prohibition.

“Gaming and sports betting companies and platforms must also implement procedures to verify the financial situation of players in order to ensure compliance with this law,” he states.

The text provides for penalties for non-compliance with the law, including fines proportional to the revenue obtained from the participation of the person in an irregular situation in games and sports betting, temporary or permanent suspension of the establishment’s operating license, and other sanctions.

Ludopathy

The justification for prohibiting betting by defaulters is financial responsibility and the potential for gambling addiction, a condition known as gambling addiction .

“Gambling, including sports betting, can be addictive and lead to serious debt for people, especially those who are already in an unfavorable financial situation, leading them to allocate part or all of their income to betting, to the detriment of debts already incurred and also harming their own basic needs, such as food, electricity, water, etc.”, points out the senator in the amendment.

Other amendments proposed by senators also deal with the issue of gambling addiction, such as amendment no. 26, proposed by Senator Mecias de Jesus.

The text includes “person diagnosed with gambling addiction, by medical report” in the betting prohibitions.

Who can’t bet?

According to the current text of the bill approved by the Chamber, the following are prohibited as betting players:

• under 18 (eighteen) years of age;
• owner, administrator, director, person with significant influence, manager or employee of the operating agent;
• public agent with duties directly related to the regulation, control and supervision of the activity within the scope of the federative entity in whose staff he exercises his powers;
• person who has or may have access to computerized fixed-odds lottery betting systems;
• person who has or may have any influence on the outcome of a real sports-themed event that is the subject of a fixed-odds betting lottery;
• other persons provided for in the regulations of the Ministry of Finance.