The Senate of Brazil has “partially delayed” the Commission of Inquiry (CPI) investigations, which are set to review the laws, standards, and protections governing the Bets regime.
These CPIs will allow the Senate to evaluate Brazil’s fixed-odds and online gambling market under the Bets framework, with plans to launch in 2025.
The “CPI of Bets” will focus on examining the financial impact of online gambling on Brazilian citizens, communities, and family finances.
Meanwhile, the “CPI of Integrity” will assess the risks and vulnerabilities of Brazilian sports, both professional and amateur, to gambling manipulation and fraud.
On Friday, the Senate confirmed a delay in launching the CPI of Bets, as Senators still need to decide who will be involved in the inquiry.
Senator Soraya Thronicke from Mato Grosso do Sul, who proposed the CPI, will serve as the inquiry’s rapporteur but has not yet assembled her team.
Thronicke has 130 days and a budget of R$ 110,000 to complete the evaluation of the financial impacts of the Bets market.
However, some concerns have emerged over the broad scope of the inquiry, which includes assessing the economic effects of the Bets market on family finances, debt, individual exposure to financial risks, criminality, and money laundering.
The Central Bank of Brazil authorized the inquiry after revealing “alarming findings” that showed recipients of Bolsa Família, Brazil’s financial aid program for low-income families, had spent BRL 3 billion (€500 million) on gambling, as tracked by the PIX payment system.
President Inácio Lula da Silva has warned Senators and Ministers that he will shut down the Bets market if it threatens welfare programs designed to protect Brazil’s poor and vulnerable, especially the Bolsa Família fund.
In addition, the Senate has extended the CPI of Integrity, chaired by Senator Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO) and with Senator Romário (PL-RJ) as rapporteur.
This inquiry, which started in April, will now run until February 2025, giving Senators more time to investigate match-fixing allegations and suspicions involving players, managers, and betting companies in Brazilian football.
Kajuru and Romário are leading the inquiry to ensure the integrity and security of Brazilian sports, following a criminal investigation into betting fraud that impacted Brazilian football in 2022 and 2023.
