“Games exist, whether formally or illegally,” acknowledges Minister Wellington Dias

The Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and the Fight Against Hunger, Wellington Dias, was asked about Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026, which banned sports betting and online games nationwide. The topic was addressed during an interview with SBT News’ Podnews program. According to the minister, games continue to exist, even informally. This is one of the main arguments put forward by entities representing the licensed sector, which argue that banning does not mean protecting. Before commenting on the measure issued by the government on September 25 of this year, Dias emphasized his status as a senator as well as a minister. “I am at the Ministry of Social Development at President Lula’s invitation, but, by the trust of the people of Piauí, I am a senator.” The minister also noted that he had previously debated the issue. “I engaged in this debate quite strongly, because there is a problem: games exist, whether formally or illegally,” he acknowledged. In addition, Dias stressed that the activity continues to be practiced in other countries and pointed to the difficulty of preventing Brazilians from accessing international platforms. “Second, games also exist in other countries. And today, how do you control communication networks so that people do not play in other countries? On a cellphone, someone is playing there in Miami and in another country,” he reflected. “So, it is from that principle that this debate arises,” he added. Government ministries acknowledge the lack of studies on the impact of ending betting A request (18800.145984/2026-44) under the Access to Information Law (LAI) asked the Ministry of Finance to verify whether impact assessments exist regarding a possible change in the regulation of online betting in Brazil. The request asked whether any study, technical note, opinion, impact analysis, economic assessment, regulatory assessment, or other document had been requested, contracted, commissioned, or planned to examine, in whole or in part, the effects of a possible ban on betting operations in the country. According to the Ministry of Finance’s response, no studies were identified, technical notes, opinions, reports, or other documents specifically intended to assess the economic, fiscal, regulatory, or social impacts resulting from a possible total or partial ban on fixed-odds betting, online games, or advertising related to the sector. The ministry also argued that producing such estimates would require building hypothetical scenarios, defining economic and behavioral assumptions, and conducting multidisciplinary technical studies that do not yet exist. Three other access-to-information requests were sent to the Ministry of Planning and Budget (MPO), to the Center for Tax and Customs Studies (CETAD) of the Federal Revenue Service and to the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic, with similar requests. None of these bodies presented studies, technical notes, or estimates on the effects of banning the activity. O post “Games exist, whether formally or illegally,” acknowledges Minister Wellington Dias apareceu primeiro em iGaming Brazil.