Brazilian Senator Jaques Wagner has submitted a request to the country’s Ministry of Economy to detail the benefits of including sports betting in the National Privatization Program (PND), which aims to privatize certain sectors to generate more resources and revenue.

According to PTSenado, Wagner asked Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes to justify transferring sports betting to the private sector and remove it from Caixa Econômica Federal’s hands, which currently has an operational structure and consolidated experience.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro signed Decree 10,467 in August, establishing that the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the Ministry of Economy will be in charge of managing the privatization of sports betting. The law sets that sports betting is included in the Privatization and Investments Program (PPI), through which certain activities will be exploited by the private sector.

“This initiative is based on the wrong premise that transferring [activities] carried out by the State to the private sector is beneficial for the society,” argued Wagner.

“This demonstrates that, in reality, the sale of certain services is detrimental to the well-being of Brazilians, because in addition to giving up an activity, it brings a concrete risk of cannibalization of the federal lotteries’ market,” he added.

In addition, the Senator explained that if they’re privatized some social programs would stop receiving as much help as they do now, including the Social Security, the National Culture Fund, the National Penitentiary Fund, the National Public Security Fund, the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee.

https://sbcamericas.com/2020/10/02/tensions-begin-to-rise-over-privatizing-sports-betting-in-brazil/