The Brazilian Ministry of Finance has confirmed the resignation of José Francisco Manssur, previously the government’s principal adviser in the drafting of Bill No. 3626/2023. The initiative creates the legislative framework to launch a federal sports betting market, known locally as “Bets”. Manssur is no longer involved in the final procedures of the upcoming platform launch.
The Ministry of Finance officially announced Manssur’s resignation from his post, issuing a short notice of his departure: “Manssur was at the forefront of drafting the set of rules for regulating the fixed-odd betting sector in Brazil. The process was conducted throughout 2023 and concluded in December, after the approval of the new legislation by the National Congress and the sanction by the Presidency of the Republic”.
Despite the official notice of resignation, Brazilian news sources reveal that Manssur made the decision to leave immediately due to bitter differences with the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over the latest regulatory measures in the betting industry.
Manssur reportedly opposed the plans of Centrão, a powerful congressional bloc that seeks to influence the formation of the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA) “Secretariat of Prizes and Betting” in Brazil.
Centrão, which has significant political clout in Congress under the leadership of Chamber President Arthur Lira (PP), seeks to control the rate regulation sector in Brazil. According to SBCNoticias,“Manssur had been the target of attacks by the Centrão, which wants to control the sector, with an eye on the income from the regulation of betting, which is expected to raise between 3,000 and 6,000 million reais this year, according to Treasury estimates”.
At previous congressional hearings on the “Bets” budget, House President Arthur Lira criticized the Treasury Department’s plans to reallocate funds from the betting regime. Lira proposed transferring taxes to the Ministry of Sports, headed by Andre Fufuka of the Center and the Progressive Party (PP). This proposal, aimed at redistributing funds for projects in the fields of social welfare, education, culture, health and social security, was supported by Centrão members and approved by the Senate.
The Ministry of Finance is actively pursuing its mission to establish the Betting and Prize Secretariat. In February this year, plans were unveiled to recruit 38 specialists to form Brazil’s first dedicated gambling supervisory body. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad assured stakeholders that after careful negotiation of the binding terms of the rate regime, the management functions of the Secretariat will be under the control of the Ministry of Finance.
Haddad has not yet announced the appointment of a president for the Betting and Prizes Secretariat, despite expectations that it could be Mansour following his contributions to the initiatives. President Lula da Silva’s office says Manssur left on his own initiative, not wanting to participate in the upcoming reorganization of the Treasury’s secretarial duties.
Although the betting regime was approved as federal law on January 1, the government and the Ministry of Finance have still not published the licensing schedule required to officially launch the sports betting market in Brazil.
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