Austrian Gambling Companies Sniff out Brazil
May 23 - This week, representatives from three Austrian-based
land and online gambling companies met with senior officials in
Brazil as part of a trade delegation to Latin America, to
discuss gambling regulations in the country.
The representatives, from leading online betting group Bwin and other gambling
companies, Casinos Austria and Novomatic, were in the country to explore the
possibility of Brazil 'opening up' its land and online gambling industry, giving
international companies access to its lucrative gambling market.
However, with Brazilian officials still grappling with the regulation of the
country's many bingo halls, the likelihood of the country legalizing and
regulating online gambling any time soon, is looking increasingly unlikely.
Currently, all forms of unauthorized sports betting, including online sport betting,
are illegal in Brazil under its 1941 Criminal Contravention Act. As such,
Brazilian-based punters are subject to criminal prosecution if found to be
placing bets.
Said José Reinaldo Guimarães Carneiro of Brazil's Special Organized Crime
Prevention Task Force (GAECO), 'In Brazil online gambling is considered highly
illegal and players caught gambling online can be severely punished, regardless
of whether the online gambling sites are based outside of Brazil.'
That being the case, a few non-Brazilian online gambling companies have
nonetheless entered the Brazilian online gambling market, including the Alderney-based
online sportbook, Sportingbet.
The company recently launched a Portuguese-language site
aimed at Brazilian gamblers, and even flighted several ads on
Brazilian television, including on popular sports channel, ESPN.
However, targeting the gambling markets of South American countries can be
tricky, as Bwin has discovered from it experiences in Argentina.
Even though Bwin was granted a license to operate an
Argentinean website under a license
issued by the northern Argentine province of Misiones, the site is currently not
operating following a court order to shut it down issued in March this year by a judge in Buenos
Aires.
The judge was responding to complaints that Bwin was promoting its services in
the city without a valid gambling license. The complaints were laid by various
Argentinean parties, including the country's national football
association and its National Lottery operator.
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