On October 29, the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) filed a case in federal court, seeking to overturn the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets’ (SPA) list of recognized operators in Brazil.
Loterj challenges the legitimacy of the SPA’s list of approved operators. Loterj has filed a lawsuit requesting that the list of federally approved operators be stopped immediately unless the operators pay their mandatory licence fee and go through a bidding process.
Up to 100 operators and 223 brands have been permitted to continue operations in Brazil ahead of the legal online betting market’s inauguration on January 1, 2025. The SPA announced the initial list on October 2, but it has since been modified to include 11 new companies.
Loterj claims the list was created before operators met all of the regulator’s conditions, including paying the BRL30 million (£4 million/€4.7 million/$5.2 million) charge for a betting licence. It further states that the Federal Supreme Court (STF) did not conduct a bidding process as required prior to the submission of licence applications.
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As a result, the state regulator believes the permitted operators have been given an unfair advantage. It argues its loterj licensees should be designated as regulated and permitted to operate until the end of 2024.
Those who have not been included to the SPA’s approved list will risk denial in Brazil. The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has already blacklisted around 3,500 domains since the SPA issued a second list of illegal operators on Thursday (October 31).
Another litigation involves Loterj in Brazil.
The complaint filed on Tuesday is the latest in Loterj’s protracted legal struggle with the federal authorities.
Loterj sought a preliminary injunction in October to overturn a government lawsuit that barred Loterj licensees from operating outside the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The Attorney General’s Office filed a separate federal complaint on October 11th, challenging former regulations that allow Loterj’s online betting licensees to operate nationally despite the fact that they do not have a federal license.
It remains to be seen whether Loterj’s plea to block the case is granted. If this is the case, Loterj licensees will be able to resume their countrywide activities.
The SPA is also dealing with a slew of new legal complaints from operators who were left off the approved list but feel they match the qualifications to be on it.
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