On Thursday (22 January), the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) published SPA/MF Ordinance No 136 in the Official Gazette of the Union, allowing Esportes Gaming Brazil and its Esportes da Sorte and Onabet brands to operate throughout Brazil.
Esportes da Sorte’s inclusion in the federal regulator’s list of authorised companies follows the Federal Court of the Federal District granting an injunction in January to allow it to operate nationally, despite only holding a state lottery licence with Loterj.
In response, Esportes da Sorte said the ruling confirmed the company’s compliance with Brazil’s gambling regulations including paying its licence fee to operate in the regulated market.
“The decision confirms that the company, from the beginning, complied with all legal and regulatory procedures established by the legislation and its respective ordinances,” Esports da Sorte said in a statement shared with BNL Data.
An end to Esportes da Sorte uncertainty in Brazil?
Esportes da Sorte’s journey to this point has certainly not been plane-sailing.
In September, Esportes da Sorte owner Darwin Henrique da Silva Filho and his wife were arrested as part of ‘Operation Integration‘, which was looking into accusations of money laundering and illegal betting.
Although Esportes da Sorte maintained its innocence, it was initially excluded from the SPA’s list of operators authorised to offer betting ahead of its legal launch (between 1 October and 31 December), rendering its operations illegal.
However the company was later added to the SPA’s approved register of operators after the owner acquired controlling shares in ST Soft, a Loterj-licensed entity.
When the SPA’s transition period ended in December, Esportes da Sorte was once again deemed illegal. It was excluded from the SPA’s list of 14 initial full licensees and 52 companies granted provisional authorisation ahead of the market’s 1 January launch.
The SPA rejected Esportes da Sorte’s request to operate due to the allegations stemming from Operation Integration.
Despite this, Article 5 of Brazil’s constitution states “no one shall be considered guilty before the criminal conviction becomes final and unappealable.”
As no criminal convictions have been made as of yet, the Federal Court has granted Esportes da Sorte’s request for authorisation to operate nationwide. The ruling also ensures that the SPA cannot impose further obstacles on its operations unless a conviction is handed down.
Esportes da Sorte said: “The reason Esportes’ rejection was considered illegal by the federal court is that it has already paid the licence fee and its website will soon be transitioning to the new domain www.esportesdasorte.bet.br.”
