Brazil’s Justice Ministry has ordered football clubs and federations in the country to submit information about any advertising and sponsorship partnerships with sports betting services, fearing they may be illegal.
Top teams such as Flamengo, Palmeiras and Club Athletico Paranaense, the Campeonato Brasileiro league and the Rede Globo de Televisão television network are among the 54 entities that must submit details to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security ( MJSP) within 10 days.
The investigation follows concerns from the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) that the partnerships were entered into without Brazil having yet finalized the laws and standards that will apply to its pending federal sports betting regime.
Sports betting rules, including a license fee of BRL22.2m (£3.6m/€4.2m/$4.4m), were published earlier this year. While many hope operators will be live in time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a launch date has yet to be announced.
The country’s gaming law (Bill 442/91) won congressional approval in February 2022, but it has yet to pass the Senate and receive presidential assent.
The ministry said: “The initiative of the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) aims to determine which companies have formalized contracts with clubs, most of which are headquartered outside Brazil.
“The law that created the [legal fixed-odds betting market] has not yet been regulated and therefore Senacon understands that the activity may be explored without proper authorization and without any monitoring, inspection or accountability mechanism.
Rede Globo has already announced betting operators Pixbet and Betnacional as sponsors for its coverage of this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Pixbet is also a partner of the Brazilian teams Flamengo, Santos, Juventude, Avaí, Goiás and América-MG, while Betnacional is associated with Náutico, Santa Cruz, Sport, Vitória, Vila Nova and XV de Piracicaba.
“Being at the World Cup is a giant leap for Pixbet. We are very proud to have reached this level,” said Ernildo Santos, founder of Pixbet, when announcing the partnership with Rede Globo earlier this month. .
