Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) is reportedly facing at least eight lawsuits from operators over its list of those approved to continue doing business.
In early October, the SPA published a list of 89 operators it considered legal and eligible to continue operating across Brazil between 1 October and 31 December. The list features operators that both applied for a betting licence and were already operating in the grey market before the SPA’s 30 September deadline. The register now stands at 96 operators and 210 brands after a number of updates were made earlier in the month.
In a follow-up to the approved list, the SPA announced it had ordered 2,040 betting sites now considered illegal to be blocked, including notable names such as Betfred and BoyleSports. The process is being carried out by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel).
The move is part of the Brazilian government’s crackdown on illegal betting sites ahead of its licensed market launch on 1 January 2025.
However, the list has faced backlash from companies that believe they should have been allowed to continue operations. These companies included Esportes da Sorte, which applied for a federal betting licence but wasn’t present on the SPA’s approved list.
Esportes has since achieved authorisation with the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery regulator (Loterj), ensuring it can continue to offer gambling at the state level. It did so by acquiring controlling shares in the Loterj-licensed ST Soft.
Folha has now reported the SPA, which sits within the ministry of finance, has been hit with at least eight federal court lawsuits from operators that disagree with being left off the approved list. These companies are not authorised to operate until the legal market is launched, should they gain federal authorisation.
Bezerra’s Zeroumbet among the lawsuits against the SPA
Zeroumbet has filed one of the lawsuits against the SPA with a federal court in Brazil, being its exclusion from the approved like is unfair. It submitted its federal betting licence to the SPA on 20 August.
However the company is caught up in an ongoing federal investigation into illegal gambling and money laundering called ‘Operation Integration’, alongside Esportes da Sorte and Vaidebet.
Zeroumnet is arguing the illegal gambling case is against its founder Deolane Bezerra and not the company itself.
Deolane Bezerra, a lawyer and social media influencer, was arrested in September after being accused of laundering proceeds from illegal gambling through Zeroumnet, which was set up in July with the intention of applying for a federal betting licence.
“In this case, the one who would be punished would be Deolane Bezerra and not the company,” Folha quoted legal documents from the case.
The Folha report says the SPA rejected Zeroumbet’s federal application to protect bettors.
