Players of the Universidad de Chile club during training on August 13 in a picture shared on social networks.
The Justice Ministry of Gabriel Boric’s government has put the Chilean football administration in check by ordering it to end the multi-million dollar contracts it has with a dozen online betting companies of foreign origin. Authorities gave the National Association of Professional Football (ANFP) 30 days to cut all ties with these companies or risk losing the legal personality that allows it to operate in the South American country.
The investigations against the Chilean football organizer were announced a few months ago by Justice Minister Luis Cordero at the request of members of the ruling party. The results were announced this Friday by the Undersecretary of the same department, Jaime Gajardo, who confirmed that the commercial relationship between the ANFP and the betting companies is illegal.
“Online betting shops operate outside the law in accordance with our legal system and the Gaming Superintendency’s findings. “We have given the ANFP the instruction that it has a period of 30 days to cancel the contracts with online betting offices,” said Gajardo, who detailed that “these contracts with third parties that have bets based abroad “place” are not permitted in national legislation, so there is no other option than to leave them without effect.”
The Undersecretary of Justice has also warned Chilean football leaders that if the ANFP does not cut its ties with foreign betting companies, it could lead to the loss of its legal personality, which in practice would prevent it from operating. Regarding the more than 30 professional football clubs also sponsored by these companies, the executive asked for information on whether non-profit institutions are involved, a question that is difficult to clarify since most Chilean teams are sports companies .
The ANFP has responded to the government’s determination, saying in a short statement that it will analyze the scope with its legal team. In addition, he stated that the institution “respects the decisions of the authorities and will therefore strictly adhere to the final resolution of this matter.”
In March this year, the Internal Revenue Service (SII) declared that online football-related betting operators with headquarters abroad constituted an activity carried out “outside the legal framework”. This was reinforced by the declaration of the Superintendency of Gaming Casinos, which stipulated that the only online betting services permitted to operate in Chile are those offered by Lotería de Concepción, Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and Teletrak [de apuestas hípicas].
Last Wednesday, prosecutor Ángel Valencia said in an interview with CNN Chile that Chilean football president Pablo Milad could be called to testify to address the ANFP’s ties to the betting industry in two cases. Investigations initiated by the Ministry of State. “One of them is related to the possible commission of crimes due to the existence of electronic betting offices on the Internet, because, according to the complainants, these would ultimately fail to comply with our rules regulating casinos.”
In recent years, Chilean football has been sponsored by several betting companies such as Betano, Betsson, Coolbet, Estelarbet and LatamWin, all of which are based abroad. Currently, almost all Primera División (first category) and Primera B (second category) teams have an online betting brand on their jerseys, including Colo Colo and Universidad de Chile, two of the largest clubs. big and popular in the country. The influence of these companies on the activity grew after the ANFP agreed to let Betsson sponsor the national tournament under its name – currently called the Betsson Championship – with the sum reaching $2.5 million.
In 2022, the Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of a bill banning the advertising of betting agencies in all Chilean football activities. MP Jaime Mulet, a member of the ruling left-wing Social Green Regional Federation (FRVS) party, said that the proposal, which is still in progress, aims to increase the transparency of sports organizations and, in particular, to prevent the promotion of gambling addiction in minors.
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