Four years have passed since the senate of Brazil approved Federal Law No. 13,756/18, seemingly paving the way for the creation of a regulated online and retail fixed-odds sports betting market.
After an extension, the government was given a final deadline of 12 December to sign-off on the new regulations. That deadline has now passed, with the country’s outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro opting to leave the bill unsigned.
Years of work – including the development of the entire regulatory regime by the country’s Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP) – now lie in tatters.
What happens next with sports betting in Brazil is yet to be seen.
