Brazilian Football Confederation Requests Ministry of Finance to Modify Sports Betting Regulations

The Brazilian Football Confederation (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) has filed a request with the Ministry of Finance to modify sports betting regulations so that football clubs would receive a higher percentage of revenue from sports betting.

In its proposal, the CBF also proposed that the government consider the financial transfer of money from the industry to clubs not as public money, but as remuneration for the use of club and championship brand names. Clubs and other sporting entities would therefore be less subject to government scrutiny.

The CBF also stated that it wanted the creation of a registry of sports betting operators, the control of which will come under the supervision of the confederation itself. The registry would serve to supervise the assignment of commercial rights, control transfers of money from sports betting operators to clubs and create mechanisms to combat match fixing.

The CBF’s demands were relayed to the Ministry of Finance by its general secretary, Alcino Rocha. As the reception of these proposals “were not well received,” the confederation said that it would aim to arrange a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Minister of Finance Fernando Haddad.

When consulted by Brazilian news outlet Globo, the CBF indicated that “the document in question, sent at the request of the Ministry of Finance, is still preliminary” and that “it is a complex and unprecedented issue” that “will be submitted for the consideration of all parties involved.”

They also noted that “all the clubs present were informed that the document presented was not a definitive text, but only a starting point.”

The president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, said that his administration was “open and democratic dialogue will always be respected,” and that “only after a broad debate, the agenda of a provisional measure will be sent to the Federal Government.”

“Our commitment is to listen and give a voice to everyone. It is undeniable that betting revenue is another source of revenue for clubs. But it is necessary to understand, discuss and reach a consensus,” Rodrigues said.

Law 13,756/18, which legalized sports betting in Brazil in 2018, ruled that teams that allowed bets to be placed on their sporting events would be entitled to 1.63% of net income. The CBF wants this percentage to be increased to 4% and that the amount be deducted from gross income which would means significantly more cash for clubs.