Brazil has taken the first step towards banning online sports betting with the passing of a legislative proposal. PL 57/2011, approved by a congressional committee, would ban the pastime by prohibiting the use of credit and debit cards to place bets.
“Games of chance in Brazil are prohibited under Brazilian legislation; however, there is an omission for games of chance that are offered online,” Deputy Valdivino de Oliveira, the bill’s sponsor before the committee, said.
“This legislation would comprehensively correct that omission in Brazilian law, including by preventing credit card operators from allowing deposit transactions and payments to be made through credit or debit cards.”
According to the author, Luiz Carlos Hauly, online and offline sports betting would be banned and only three years before the World Cup you’d be right for thinking this a weird measure. This is where Hauly got clever by inserting an exemption for “federal sports lotteries” and other games offered by Caixa Economica. It still means that sports betting will be quite low key in a country that is the maddest in the world when it comes to soccer.
It still has another two committees to clear before it becomes law and Caixa already recognizes that online sports betting should be an avenue they explore in the future. The state run company has started to investigate other international sports betting markets, Derziê, telling DingNews.com, “The best way to tackle the illegal market is to get creative and fill that space.”
Many circles hope that they can introduce the market before the tournament in 2014. They’d be sensible to stall Hauly’s bill on the way as it’s only likely to make it a more complicated deal.
