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Sports Minister of Chile, Francisco Riveros, has raised concerns about the sponsorship dealings between sports clubs and online betting firms, suggesting they should be regulated instead. In the Cómo te lo explico podcast, Riveros said he does not approve of these setups until the nation has laws for online betting sites.
“For me, it has to be regulated, and that is where the definition lies,” Riveros said. He said regulation could either be used to ban betting platforms or rules be adopted which acknowledge the fact that there are foreign companies that operate in Chile, even without being under Chilean law. The government needs to decide what is the best course of action, he said.
Regulation and the Role of Athletes
Riveros says a new system should include gambling as a problem among minors and the relationship between betting companies and sports professionals. Chile will have to establish “what the relationship between active athletes and betting companies will be, whether they can be the face of these companies or not, and whether they can participate in the same sponsorship agreements.”
Riveros also said that he needs more information before he’ll make a decision on whether betting should be regulated or banned in the end. He said the government of President José Antonio Kast is looking into the matter, though there had been no direct consultation with the Sports Ministry, which is being handled by the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel).
Blocking Betting Sites and Tax Collection
The sponsorship debate arrives while Chilean authorities remain to this day blocking online betting websites. On September 21, Subtel ordered Internet service providers to block 37 more domains linked to Internet gambling and betting sites, after judicial rulings and following a list approved by the Superintendency of Casinos (SCJ). Providers were given 48 hours to implement the DNS blocks.
The measure has also sparked controversy over the rationale of keeping taxes on gambling firms that operate platforms considered illegal. Transport and Telecommunications Minister Louis De Grange, however, disagreed that the two jobs are incompatible, saying that Subtel is just doing what it has been mandated to do by the law, and abiding by court directives on website blocking issues.
Government Defends Current Approach
De Grange said that Subtel gets information that it coordinates with the SCJ and gives the domains to telecommunications companies for them to block. He also noted that it would be hard to keep up with the restrictions since betting companies can easily set up alternative domains. “It can only take these illegal betting companies a couple hours to set up another website,” he continued.
De Grange said there is no conflict over taxation and both issues can exist within the existing regulatory structure. “It is not a contradiction; there are certain areas that are still within the scope of discussion,” he said. He added that the broader debate should examine international regulatory experiences, including those in Europe and other Latin American countries. “This is a much deeper discussion, and we have to look at international evidence and see how they have done it in Europe and other countries in Latin America.”
Source: SBC Noticias
