Brazil: Resolution sought for $142m impasse between athletes and clubs
Congress members debated how to unlock millions owed from fixed-odds betting revenue.
Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies is attempting to resolve the legal deadlock preventing the distribution of BR767m ($142m) in betting revenue owed to athletes, clubs and sports federations.
The issue was discussed during a hearing of the Sports Committee with participants calling for new legislation to define how the funds should be shared.
The amount stems from the percentage of fixed-odds betting revenue set aside under Law 14.790/2023.
While the law established that a share of betting proceeds must compensate athletes for the use of their names and images, it failed to specify how the funds should be divided.
According to Pietro Lorenzoni, legal director of the National Association of Gaming and Lotteries (ANJL), BR767m remains in a dedicated account awaiting regulation.
“We want to pay but we need to know who receives it and in what proportion,” he explained. The ANJL represents 35 licensed operators that collectively transferred BR2.1bn to designated civil society organisations in the first half of 2025.
The main disagreement centres on whether the withheld funds are public or private.
Operators claim the money is private while the Ministry of Sports and athlete associations argue it constitutes public resources.
Jorge Borçato, President of the National Federation of Professional Soccer Players, defended prioritizing football players and suggested Congress introduce a specific bill to regulate the division.
“More than 50% of bets are directly linked to the athlete: a yellow card, a goal he scores. So, that’s our fight: for the athlete to get more,” he said.
Olympic athlete Rafael Silva proposed that the money be placed into a decentralized fund similar to Brazil’s Audiovisual Law, while other experts recommended a system modelled after the music industry’s Ecad collection body.
Sports Committee chair Laura Carneiro urged lawmakers to reach consensus.
“We are here to hear all sides and decide whether the solution should come through amendments to existing laws or an entirely new framework,” she said.
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