Retail sector using online gambling as “scapegoat” for rising food prices in Brazil says ANJL
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has filed a lawsuit, asking the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (ABRAS) to explain the origin of the information disclosed on its social media and by the association’s president in the retail sector, João Galassi, which links the regulated betting activity to the worsening food insecurity in the country.
As reported by the Brazilian news outlet Veja, the ANJL highlights in the judicial inquiry that the content includes broad and potentially defamatory claims. In a post published on the 10th, ABRAS asserts that, in 2024, the retail sector would have suffered losses of R$ 103 billion to the betting market. However, official data from the Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) IBGE in the past year, reported that the sector recorded growth of 4.7%. Another incorrectly mentioned piece of data is that the bets authorized by the federal government only have a 12% tax burden.
“The retail sector has chosen a scapegoat for the rise in food prices on families’ tables. And, in their opinion, bets are responsible. It is absurd, because it spreads false news aimed at attacking a legitimate sector of the economy, which, this year alone, will generate over R$ 4 billion in taxes. Money that is legally designated for investments in Sports, Health, Public Safety, Tourism, Education, and Social Security. Reducing the country’s budgetary issues to the regulated betting market is irresponsible and simplistic,” stated the president of ANJL, Plínio Lemos Jorge.
Plínio stated that the video is offensive and misleading, failing to distinguish between authorized betting companies regulated by the Ministry of Finance and illegal betting sites, which threaten public revenues by diverting billions of reais that should go to the government’s coffers.
“No one has appeared slyly, as the video suggests. The names of the legalized betting houses are public and accessible for anyone on government websites, which also announces every time a bet is authorized to operate in the country. ABRAS may be against the betting sector, but it cannot spread false information,” Plínio stated.
