Two meetings were held this week in Brasilia between the president of the National Association of Gaming and Lotteries (ANJL), Plínio Lemos Jorge, and important organisations from the country's media sector. The fight against illegal gambling sites operating in Brazil and responsible gaming advertising were the topics of both meetings. 

The first meeting took place at the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert in its original portuguese), which represents more than three thousand media organisations. Plínio, who was accompanied by ANJL legal director Pietro Cardia Lorenzoni, then addressed the Brazilian Radio and Television Association (Abratel in its original portuguese), which brings together hundreds of broadcasters.

‘We are going to be three months in the regulated market. We have new legislation, understandings to make and demands that arise from this reality. One of them, without a doubt, is the participation of the communication sectors in this network to combat the gambling companies that operate clandestinely in the country. The projection of this industry, which operates illegally, relies heavily on advertising. Stopping this advertising will contribute to the sustainability of the sector, which pays taxes and operates with the seal of approval of the federal government,’ said the ANJL president.

The meeting at Abert was attended by the president, Flávio Lara Resende, the general director, Cristiano Lobato Flôres, and the head of legislative affairs, Gabriel Pena Costa. Lara Resende emphasised that, with the regulation, advertising becomes an important means to raise awareness of responsible gambling and regular activity. ‘The cooperation of the various sectors of the economy and public authorities is essential to work together to develop and improve effective rules and measures to strengthen responsible gambling and the fight against illegal activity. As the regulation is recent, a maturation process is natural, and we expect the gambling sector to contribute more and more to the economy, generating jobs and taxes,’ said Abert's president.

Abratel's president, Márcio Novaes, stressed that the association is fully committed to supporting companies and gambling to be regularised in Brazil. ‘The regularisation process in the National Congress was correct, transparent and within democratic norms. And nothing could be fairer than to support this initiative, especially because they support sport and football, which is the biggest national passion and has the largest audience in Brazil. We are together, supporting all these companies that are within the rules of the game,’ he said, who was accompanied by Record's journalism director, Roberto Munhoz, and Abratel's government relations coordinator, Lindemberg Portela.

Blocking illegal sites

In the last five months alone, the Ministry of Finance's Secretariat of Prizes and Gambling (SPA) has requested the blocking of more than 12,000 illegal gambling sites. 

The ANJL president reminds that it is not possible to speak of official figures because it is a clandestine sector, but the diversion of tax revenues from this industry amounts to billions of reais. 

By way of comparison, he recalls that licensed gambling will generate approximately R$20 billion in tax revenue for the federal government each year, as well as 60,000 new jobs over the next five years.