Brazil presents unprecedented results in the fight against sports match-fixing

 

The meeting highlights the concrete achievements delivered in record time by the interministerial Working Group created through Interministerial Ordinance MESP/MF/MJSP No. 1/2025, which has transformed institutional coordination into effective on-the-ground results.

 

 

The major milestone of this agenda is the establishment of the National Policy for the Prevention and Combat of Sports Match-Fixing, formalised through Interministerial Ordinance MESP/MF/MJSP No. 1/2026. The policy structures Brazil’s State action around four complementary pillars: regulation, prevention, monitoring and supervision, and enforcement.

 

Minister of Sport Paulo Henrique Cordeiro stressed that building initiatives to combat the harm caused by online betting is a Government priority. Cordeiro highlighted that Brazil is delivering a coordinated and permanent response to protect sports integrity:

 

“In less than a year, we have moved from diagnosis to the implementation of a structured national policy with integrated intelligence, training and effective prevention, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. It is a commitment by the Brazilian State to the future of sport in the country and also to Brazilian families.”

 

 

Giovanni Rocco, National Secretary for Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sport at the Ministry of Sport, stated that this second meeting consolidates significant progress by deepening agent training, integrating the various institutions involved and strengthening mechanisms that ensure greater transparency, security and credibility in competitions and Brazilian sport.

 

Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues noted that sports match-fixing is often linked to criminal organisations and requires a qualified State response. Through the integration of intelligence, regulation and investigation, Brazil now has more effective conditions to tackle these practices continuously.

 

Daniele Cardoso, Secretary of Prizes and Betting at the Ministry of Finance, highlighted that these initiatives strengthen the construction of a structured foundation for coordinated State action. Cardoso underlined that the meeting plays a central role by bringing together Government bodies, the sports community, supervisory and investigative authorities, sports entities, betting operators and integrity organisations within the same institutional framework.

 

Meanwhile, Chico Lucas, National Secretary for Public Security at the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, stated that Brazil is “taking a decisive step by structuring a State policy to tackle sports match-fixing,” integrating intelligence, regulation and investigation into a continuous and coordinated model that strengthens the National Public Security System.

 

 

With the implementation of the new policy, Brazil is establishing a National Integrity Ecosystem for Sports Betting, based on coordinated action between public institutions and strategic stakeholders. This ecosystem operates as a network, integrating intelligence, regulation and investigation capabilities through information-sharing mechanisms and complementary action among the various actors involved.

 

In practice, this represents a paradigm shift: the State is no longer acting in a fragmented way but through coordinated, continuous and data-driven operations, significantly expanding its prevention and response capacity.

 

 

In less than a year, the Working Group has progressed from diagnosis to implementing structural instruments. Key achievements include the establishment of the National Policy itself, the development of the Suspicious Betting Analysis System by the Federal Police, the publication of the second edition of the National Manual for Combating Sports Match-Fixing, and the first online course on prevention and enforcement against manipulation, developed by the National Police Academy.

 

Additional measures include the continuous production and dissemination of intelligence reports, the organisation of national technical meetings that are shaping a permanent cooperation network among public security, regulation, sports and the betting sector, the formalisation of partnerships with integrity agencies and the structuring of integrated operational flows for receiving, analysing and forwarding information related to match manipulation.

 

 

The consolidation of this agenda comes amid the expansion of Brazil’s regulated sports betting market, driven by Law No. 14.790/2023. Regulation increases the need for robust control, monitoring and integrity mechanisms and demands a structured and coordinated State response such as the one currently being implemented by the Government.

 

 

The event brings together delegates from Civil and Federal Police forces, national sports managers, betting market operators, athletes, representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, regulatory bodies and sports integrity companies. The programme combines panels on sports and betting integrity — covering regulation, prevention, monitoring, investigation and technology — with technical activities focused on public security, including case studies and intelligence practices applied to combating match-fixing.

 

 

With the measures already implemented, Brazil continues advancing toward the consolidation of a permanent public policy based on integration, intelligence and institutional coordination. Together, these actions place the country at a new level in protecting sports integrity, with a structured capacity to prevent, detect and combat sports match-fixing on a continuous and coordinated basis.