Almost five hours was the duration of the act of opening the envelopes and reviewing the offers that contain them as part of the public bidding process for the award of the "Sports Bets". The operation of the game is exclusive throughout the country and for five years, as stipulated by Law No. 1016/97 of the Gambling Regime. The activity took place yesterday, in the office of the National Games of Chance Commission (Conajzar).

The three companies presented are: Daruma Sam SA (Apostala), whose representatives are Carlo Giuseppe Espinoza Vega and Javier Gauto; Consortium B-Gaming Sucursal Paraguay and Gambling SA, represented by Néstor Povigna; and the sole proprietorship Luis Carlos Alder Benítez (Play Tech), whose legal representative is Rubén Melgarejo Lanzoni (former chancellor). The interim president of Conajzar, María Galván, said that six firms acquired the Bidding Terms and Conditions (PBC), an essential requirement to participate in the process and whose cost was G. 60 million. The companies that bought the rights but did not show up are Jockey Club del Paraguay, 7 Saltos SA and Consorcio Empresa Afun and Hy Hao Yun SA, she reported.

In this regard, Galván considered that it is normal,  since they examine the requirements for the concession. For the award, the proposal of the percentage of the canon on the netwin (gross profit), economic solvency and experience will be evaluated.

Regarding the offers, Apostala proposed a canon of 22%; B-Gaming, 27%; and Play Tech, 23%.

CONAJZAR: OBSERVATIONS

The bidding companies verified the folders of their competitors and each one raised its defense.

The most observed was B-Gaming,  since it is made up of local and Argentine capital. Julio Godoy, from Apostala, pointed out that it is a "dirty" move. “He raised a 27% canon but it is unknown if he would have the solvency to comply, since the experience and economic capacity is foreign. This call is national”, he said.

It was after this criticism that the competitors found out that B-Gaming filed an appeal for reconsideration with Conajzar, appealing to the Administrative Procedure Law No. 6715/21. “According to this regulation, it cannot be prevented from participating in a tender because it is an experienced company with a branch in Paraguay. It's like disqualifying Ford in vehicle manufacturing, it's ridiculous," said Povigna. This point was the most discussed, since it is binding in the process. The Conajzar has not yet ruled on the matter, and the case could go to the Court of Accounts and even to the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ).

Other observations between firms were related to economic solvency (Play Tech) and the fantasy name of Apostala, which would have a problem with its registration.