Kambi executive warns Brazil betting ban puts sports integrity at risk
Kambi's Latin America director Mateo Lenoble told iGaming Business that Brazil's suspension of licensed betting leaves lasting legal uncertainty and pushes bettors towards unregulated platforms.
Kambi's director for Latin America, Mateo Lenoble, has told iGaming Business that the suspension of licensed sports betting in Brazil is damaging confidence in the market and creating risks for the integrity of sport.
Lenoble said the provisional measure that halted betting activity in the country has disrupted projects Kambi had been building there, noting that the supplier only operates where markets are regulated.
Speaking to the outlet, he said that even a swift reversal of the ban would not remove the uncertainty the measure has introduced, since a regulated market that has once been upended in this way could face the same outcome again.
Lenoble pointed to comments he made at the SBC Summit in Lisbon, where he described Brazil as one of the most attractive betting markets in the world and said Kambi would consider re-entering it once a new regulatory structure is in place, offering backing to operators looking to return.
On the operator side, Lenoble said Kambi's Brazilian partners are not all affected equally. Clients that operate solely in Brazil are feeling the greater strain, he said, while those active in other jurisdictions have more room to absorb the disruption. He added that Kambi intends to keep investing in the country but could not say how quickly that would happen.
Asked whether the end of regulated betting could fuel match-fixing, Lenoble said a licensed market with defined rules is a far more effective tool against such practices than an unregulated one, which is why Kambi has consistently argued for regulation.
He said Kambi works with global partners on integrity issues and, alongside many of those partners, is a member of the International Betting Integrity Association. The company also runs its own integrity unit dedicated to protecting clients, which he described as central to giving bettors a safe product.
On the risk of bettors shifting to illegal platforms as a result of the ban, Lenoble said a regulated sector with clear rules makes it far easier to curb illicit gambling. Once a market loses its regulatory oversight, he said, the authorities lose the ability to apply the safeguards needed to police it, leaving genuine risks to the integrity of sport.