Rio lottery boss proposes taskforce to tackle illegal online gambling
Hazenclever Lopes Cançado had proposed collaboration between state and federal agencies and reiterated his stance in favour of regulated land-based casinos in Brazil.
Brazil.- A year on from the launch of regulated online gambling in Brazil, combating illegal betting remains one of the most pressing topis. Hazenclever Lopes Cançado, president of the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj), has now called for the creation of a taskforce to tackle the issue.
Speaking on the EsferaCast programme, Lopes Cançado argued that state and federal authorities should unite to form a taskforce to focus efforts on taking down illegal online gambling platforms.
“We need to unite the states and federal agencies, such as the Federal Revenue Service, Federal Police, COAF [Council for the Control of Financial Activities] and the Central Bank, to create a force to combat illegal bookmakers. The tens of thousands of illegal bookmakers operating in Brazil are the gateway to trafficking, militias, drug trafficking, money laundering and various other crimes,” Hazenclever said.
Lopes Cançado cited the example of what was put into practice in the state of Rio de Janeiro as a model that could serve as inspiration for how to guarantee the security of gaming platform operations.
“Ours is a modern, updated model. We spoke with all the mature markets in the world and brought to Rio de Janeiro the best that exists in legal security for the bettor, for the state and for the betting houses,” he said.
In another part of the interview, the president of Loterj reinforced his stance in favour of the legalisation of casinos, bingo halls and other land-based gambling venues in Brazil. “We need to bring into the light all the games that persist in operating in obscurity and clandestinity,” he explained.
The legalisation of physical gambling establishments is proposed in the long-stalled Bill 2234/22, which awaits a vote in the Senate Plenary.
Another topic raised by Hazenclever is that of social improvements financed by gambling revenue. In the case of Loterj, the institution has increase the application of lottery resources to social programmes by 46 times in the last three years, he said. Some of the destinations of these funds are daycare centers, actions to combat violence against women, and sponsorship of grassroots sports.
“Our great differentiator, besides security, is the return to society of what is collected in a transparent and democratic way, leaving the proceeds collected by the State from bets placed by the people of Rio de Janeiro in the state,” declared the president of the Rio de Janeiro state lottery authority.
Finally, Hazenclever spoke about the authority’s plans to implement video lottery machines in Rio. The expectation is that 65,000 direct and indirect jobs will be generated in the next two years.
A report by Stellar Gaming on the first nine months of regulated online betting in Brazil, estimates that 25 million Brazilians gambled on regulated platforms between January and September 2025. That’s approximately 12 per cent of the country’s adult population.
Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) in that period reached R$36bn (€6.1bn), exceeding expectations. Sector-specific tax revenue amounted to R$3.3bn, while revenue from licences and inspection fees totalled R$2.2bn.
