Brazil advances work on gambling exclusion list
The platform will cover minors, benefits recipients, professional athletes, and people with a history of gambling addiction.
Brazil.- The Ministry of Finance is developing a platform that will inform bookmakers of all people legally prohibited from participating in online gambling in Brazil. Now in the final stages of development at the gambling regulator, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), the List of those Prohibited from Betting will include recipients of welfare benefits, professional athletes, and people with a history of gambling addiction.
As reported by Estadão, the government will require companies in the sector to block registrations, deposits and bets from anyone who is named on the list. If a user is already registered, they must be prevented from continuing to bet and will have their funds returned.
The full list of groups to be included in the list is as follows:
- Bolsa Família welfare recipients;
- Beneficiaries of the Continuous Benefit Payment (BPC);
- Under 18s;
- Public officials working in the betting industry;
- Professional athletes, referees, managers, inspectors, or sports coaches;
- People diagnosed with gambling addiction;
- Users who have opted for self-exclusion from the betting market;
- People prohibited from betting by a specific court order
The Supreme Federal Court (STF) banned gambling by welfare recipients last year, but enforcement is proving to be a challenge. According to industry insiders, the prohibition on minors has been easy enough to enforce since they require photo IDs upon registration and send data on new users to the Treasury Department daily. However, blocking benefits recipients has proved difficult without a unified platform to consult.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is also preparing to roll out Brazil’s new National Betting System (SINAPO) as a central hub for licensed online gambling operators. Following the launch of regulated online gambling in January, the SPA has been working on the platform to unify monitoring of the market at federal and state levels and obtain a clear picture of compliance.
Licensed operators will appear on a list published on the SPA’s website to make it easier for customers to identify them. The operators will also see benefits, including streamlined banking and legal advertising and app store inclusion.
In other news on gambling in Brazil, Betano has seen off six other operators to win a record deal to sponsor the Brazilian football team Flamengo FC. It replaces the club’s previous contract with Pixbet. The deal is estimated to be worth R$200m per year (£31.4m).
Meanwhile, senator Humberto Costa has proposed a bill – PL 3,754/2025 – that seeks to ban under 21s from betting while also restricting advertising and prohibiting the sponsorship of sporting, cultural and educational events.
