The Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) has formally issued its demands to the country’s government over a potential regulatory framework on fixed-odds betting.
The body responsible for the development of Brazilian football has locked horns with parliament, asking for an increase in betting income guarantee to 4% of total revenues made by licensed operators.
“Current legislation provides for the transfer of only 1.63% of net betting results, while a new proposal is for this amount to increase to 4% of total revenue, with 80% of this percentage going to clubs and 20% to the CBF,” the demand states.
According to the CBF, the additional funds requested will strengthen the sport’s infrastructure in the country, with clubs becoming better equipped to transfer football rights, as well as to fight match-fixing.
Further plans for the football governing body include the creation of “initial mechanisms for control and monitoring of this sector’s activities” in Brazil, as currently those are “absent” but “highly necessary, especially to ensure the integrity of our competitions in the ongoing fight against match-fixing.”
Meetings were held between the CBF and Serie A and B teams at the end of March to clear any confusion around the proposed demands, which have been made on a provisional basis and are subject to change.
The football confederation is currently awaiting a response from the Ministry of Finance in order to revisit the matter, advising the government branch to ignore separate stakeholder opinions on the subject of betting due to them generating ‘unproductive’ conclusions.
“We are available to discuss fixed-odds betting with the Minister of Finance at any time, with the goal of defending and preserving the interests of Brazilian football,” the CBF stated.
The latest developments in Brazil’s betting market saw President Lula da Silva and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad co-signing a proposal ‘based on a UK model’ for a 15% gross gaming revenue tax on sports betting. This is currently being evaluated by the Attorney General’s Office.
