Brazil Bolsters Fight Against Sports Betting Manipulation with New Platform, Training
BRASILIA – brazil unveiled a suite of new tools and initiatives this week aimed at combating manipulation of results and fraud within its rapidly expanding sports betting market. The effort, spearheaded by the National Secretary of Sports Betting and Economic Progress of sports, Giovanni Rocco, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, includes a citizen reporting platform, a comprehensive investigative manual, and specialized training for law enforcement.
The move comes as Brazil formalizes its sports betting regulations and seeks to protect the integrity of its sporting events.”what we are building here, collaboratively, is a public policy. We want to send a clear message: in sport there is no space for fraud or manipulation,” Rocco stated. The initiatives represent a proactive approach to safeguarding both the economic benefits and the cultural meaning of sport in Brazil.
Central to the new strategy is Apitito Cidadão, a digital platform developed jointly by the Federal Police and the University of Brasilia (UNB). This platform will allow citizens to anonymously report suspected match-fixing, supplementing existing reporting channels from betting operators and entities. Alongside the platform,authorities presented a “combat manual” detailing preventative and repressive strategies for identifying and prosecuting sports fraud – a resource intended to clarify legal definitions and investigative procedures.
“The manual is an vital starting point, since sometimes it is arduous to typify sports crime,” explained Denis Cali, director of inquiry and combat of organized crime and the corruption of the Federal police.
The government is also focusing on coordinated action and international best practices. National Secretary of Substitute Public Security, Rodney Da Silva, emphasized the need for “a coordinated state action” to address a problem he acknowledged “is not new.” To that end, a two-day training program is underway for 54 delegates from the federal Police and civil police forces across Brazil’s 26 states and the Federal District. The training, supported by the United Nations Office against Drug and Crime (UNODC), will focus on unifying research criteria, strengthening inter-agency cooperation, and leveraging technology to detect suspicious betting patterns.
Authorities indicated a particular focus will be placed on monitoring award offerings, especially from illegal operators, to identify anomalies indicative of manipulation.