Sportsbetting will reportedly soon be legal in Brazil following the signing of legislation by the nation’s outgoing President, Michel Temer (pictured), that now gives the Ministry of the Economy up to two years to fashion a bespoke regulatory system.

Legislative support:

According to reports from CasinoNewsDaily.com and CalvinAyre.com, 78-year-old Temer put his signature to Provisional Measure 846/2018 at a special event on Wednesday following its overwhelming passage last month by the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate in Brasilia.

Extension provision:

Although largely focused on the distribution of tax revenues from the nation’s lottery, Provisional Measure 846/2018 nonetheless declares that sportsbetting ‘shall be operated exclusively in a competitive environment’ while containing a provision that could see its implementation period extended by a further two years should the Ministry of the Economy be unable to establish suitable regulations in time.

Taxable revenues:

This week’s signing reportedly followed many years of failed attempts to bring sportsbetting to the nation of 210 million people with the legislation set to allow operators to offer a range of land-based and online fixed-odds betting services in return for agreeing to contribute a portion of their proceeds to the Culture, Sports and Public Security Ministries.

According to the source, the legislation mandates that some 2.5% of tax revenues raised by land-based sportsbetting in Brazil are to be earmarked for the South American nation’s National Public Security Fund. This reservoir aids the National Public Security Force law enforcement agency and is to also purportedly enjoy 1% of any revenues earned by the government from online sports wagering.

Imminent change:

In office since the 2016 impeachment of predecessor Dilma Rousseff, Temer did not stand for election in this year’s presidential elections and is due to be replaced by the more conservative, Jair Bolsonaro, from the first day of January. CalvinAyre.com reported that the former academic called the signing of Provisional Measure 846/2018, ‘a brilliant afternoon for public safety, culture, sports and, above all, the Brazilian people’ despite no clarification on just who is to be permitted to operate the coming sportsbetting services.