On Friday, April 11, Pixbet and three other operators had their licenses suspended. Brazil’s betting regulator, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), took the action. Yet, a subsequent federal court decision reinstated Pixbet’s authorization.
The publication of SPA of Normative Ordinance No 787 suspended the license of Tqj-Par Participacoes Societarias SA, 7MBR Ltda, Caixa Lotteries SA and Pixbet Technological Solutions. This results in them no longer being able to operate in the legal online betting market in Brazil.
The ordinance states that the four operators failed to comply with Article 3 of Normative Ordinance No 2,104. It relates to the presentation of technical certificates and betting systems to the regulator.
The government will suspend the operators for up to 90 days from the publication of the ordinance. During this time, they will be prevented from offering fixed-odds betting until they complete the required certifications and regain their licenses.
Normative Ordinance No 787 suspended the companies and brands below:
TQJ-PAR PARTICIPACOES SOCIETARIAS SA: BINGO BANK, TELE SENA BET, BET DO MILLĀO.
7MBR LTDA: CBET
CAIXA LOTTERIES SA: BETCAIXA, MEGABET, XBET CAIXA
PIXBET TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS LTDA: PIXBET, FLABET, BET DA SORTE
Pixbet expressed surprise upon receiving the news of the license suspension in a note shared with Poder360. The company believes it submitted the necessary certificates and suggested that an error in analysis or technical processing may have caused the revocation.
The news also likely came as a shock to top-flight football club Flamengo, which recently debuted its shirt sponsor FlaBet. The team launched the new brand in partnership with its master sponsor, Pixbet. Only licensed betting companies are able to sponsor sports teams in Brazil.
Nonetheless, after federal court judge Anderson Santos da Silva overturned the effects of the ordinance, following a writ of mandamus filed by the company, license of Pixbet was reinstated later on Friday night.
