Brazil: Regulation of online games needs to "evolve fast"

On May 22, the Sports Commission of the Chamber of Deputies held a public hearing at the request of the federal deputy Evandro Roman (PSD-PR) with the aim of discussing the regulation of online games in Brazil, which according to the deputy was already in more than 50 countries.

Entrepreneurs of the sector, as well as representatives of national and international entities, were present at the hearing.

In an interview with Sputnik Brazil, lawyer Pedro Trengrouse, vice president of the Special Law Commission of Sports Games, Lotteries and Entertainment of the National OAB, explained that the issue is not new.

"The National Congress has already dealt with sports betting, law 13,756 / 18, which was approved last year, and delegates, and attributes to the Ministry of Economy the competence to regulate the matter, then that discussion on the regulation of sports betting that's it," said the lawyer who was one of the guests of the hearing on the 22nd, but justified the absence.

Law 13.756 / 18, cited by the lawyer, authorized sports betting games by physical means as well as online. The legislation was the result of Provisional Measure 13.756 / 18, of the then President Michel Temer (MDB).

Today, the Ministry of Economy is focused mainly on the approval of the Revision of the Previdencia, pointed as a crucial factor. Nevertheless, the matter related to the bets, according to Trengrouse, already would be quite advanced. "I think that the Ministry even this year places the regulation of sports betting on the street," he said.

According to Pedro Trengrouse, there are several foreign experiences that can be used as an example for the establishment of such regulation.

The Trengrouse experience adds that the measure must observe the "integrity of the sport, the protection of the bettor, the consumer, the popular economy" and "measures against money laundering".

"The experience of Portugal, Spain, France, England. Now in the United States seven states have regulated online gambling," he says. "Then, there are relatively recent experiences scattered throughout the world, because the Internet is a relatively recent phenomenon, from the historical point of view, which concludes that all countries are facing the same challenges at the same time," adds the lawyer.

According to the course coordinator of the FGV-RJ, Portugal made this regulation in 2015, and has revised some aspects of the legislation.

"Brazil is in a position to look at all these examples and evaluate what fits our reality. [...] Brazil has the conditions to produce a very advanced legislation, just look to the side and put your head to think," he adds.

Trengrouse also notes that the regulation of issues related to technology is stuck in the fact that technological evolution is faster than the ability to update legislative bodies.

"Then it is a moment of attributing the competence to some body that has the dynamism enough to accompany the technological evolution to do the regulation," he explains.

The lawyer also states that this regulation has the need not to be static, considering that it deals with technologies that advance in an accelerated manner.

"The legislation, yes, establishes a concept, establishes the permit, establishes that the game is allowed in Brazil, the regulation needs to be done dynamically, and can evolve and evolve quickly," he says.

The lateness of the regulatory process in Brazil is also highlighted by the lawyer, who believes that this is due to the succession of crises that the country faces in recent years.

"The explanation that Brazil has not advanced in these matters is that other issues ended up taking account of the pattern, matters not so important from the structural point of view, much more conjuncture than structure, and that now people can move forward."