Darts against online bookmakers are gaining more and more strength. Last week, the Sports Commission of the Chamber of Deputies revealed and dispatched to Sala the project that seeks to prohibit the presence of advertising of these firms in sports events and clubs. This, while complaints have been added against these companies in recent months, considering that they would be operating outside Chilean law, an activity that is estimated to move between US$130 and US$170 million annually in the country.

Under this scenario, the firms Betano, Betsson, Coolbet and Latamwin got together to hire teams of lawyers to defend their positions. Recently, Matías Balmaceda, partner at Balmaceda, Cox y Piña; and Jorge Bofill, a partner at the Bofill Escobar Silva law firm, were booked —joining the lawyer Carlos Baeza— by the operators to face the legislative discussion and legal proceedings.In this context, Balmaceda highlights that in legislative matters 'we must understand that there are two projects that are advancing; we have the one that regulates advertising, but the truth is that it is a bit beyond our interests, because what interests us is the one that is subject to regulation, and it is the one that we are promoting'.

He adds that they seek to advance the initiative that aims to regulate this activity, given that "if we look at the OECD countries, in more than 60% of them this issue is already regulated and is not prohibited, as our counterparts want it to be seen." The lawyer points out that although they hope to have a greater speed in the processing of the regulation project for the industry —which is currently having its discussion paused in the Chamber of Deputies awaiting the delivery of instructions by the Executive— he believes that must discuss with the 'depth that the matter deserves'. 'He's obviously quite paralyzed. The indications have not advanced and we have tried to push forward, holding meetings with different actors.”

In this area there is much more openness, since they understand that it is necessary to regulate and that this must be within the tax system that the Treasury is promoting, from the point of view of generating a tax that is attractive and that is paid in Chile. The platforms we represent are willing to do that,' he says. However, he adds that 'more than speed, we want depth of the subject. We prefer that it be legislated perhaps somewhat slower, but that it be legislated with the degree of depth that the activity requires to understand the matter'. In this line, he affirms that they hope that both the regulation project and the initiative that seeks to prohibit the advertising of these sports betting houses can come together to advance in a regulatory framework.

'It would be the most reasonable because today they are separated, since one started from the Government and another from legislators, but they should come together, because they have the same purpose in terms of being able to determine in which spaces these operators should or cannot be,' he points out. 'We would like to have at the end of this year, at least, some kind of pronouncement in relation to whether the projects can actually be merged. They are projects that should go hand in hand, because the advertising project operates from a wrong starting point, that this would be illegal, so it could not be advertised. If this is regulated, as a consequence advertising in football and in other activities will also have to be regulated, as it operates worldwide,' he adds.

Complaints and payment of digital VAT

Matías Balmaceda also highlights that his incorporation to the defense of these bookmakers is in line with 'the intervention of the land-based (physical) casinos that have filed complaints with the Public Ministry and have also filed them with name and surname against the operators, so it became necessary to look for lawyers to take charge of the situation'.

In his opinion, his joining the team is due to the fact that 'the issue is naturally being taken to a field that does not correspond, which is the criminal field, and where we have all the expertise.' However, the lawyer is confident that the complaints filed by casino operators, such as Dreams, should not come to fruition, given the background in recent times, where the Public Ministry filed some complaints made by the Superintendence of Casinos and Games (SCJ) against these online firms. 'There are three complaints in which the Public Ministry decided not to continue with the investigation, without us intervening as defense attorneys.

Now, effectively, the complaints that are in force, which are the complaints of the land-based casinos, are in the process of being investigated, and along these lines, we believe in the objectivity of the Public Ministry, because we believe that they understand —and are going to understand— that this is an issue that should not be resolved in that instance, but by judicial means,' he points out. He adds that 'this is taken to the criminal justice field because the casinos obviously understand that their market niche is potentially affected. However, we are reassured that the Public Ministry has filed some complaints, and we know that there are ongoing investigations and in those we have a high degree of certainty that these facts do not constitute a crime.' He explains that 'obviously, this is not regulated, but it does not mean that it is illegal, there is a world of difference. For something to be illegal, it has to be criminalized, and the important thing is that this behavior itself is not criminalized in Chile, and that is not something that only we see, it is also seen by the persecuting entity that is the Public Ministry, but otherwise, we would already have people formalized and charged, and that has not happened and we believe that it is far from happening,' he says.

"We have peace of mind in that regard." Regarding the questions regarding the fact that these online betting firms would not be complying with the digital VAT payment, Balmaceda highlights that —at least— two of the represented firms are registered and are making said payment. 'What happens is that if you look for them by their fantasy names, for example Betsson or Coolbet, you won't find them in the SII, and obviously the ones that pay are the company names.'