Calderini Rosa Appointed SECAP New Secretary General

Brazil’s Secretariat for Assessment, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP), the agency overseeing developments related to the country’s federal sports betting regime, saw another Secretary General take the reign after the Ministry of Economy appointed Sérgio Ricardo Calderini Rosa this week.

Fourth Secretary General to Deal with Sports Betting

Calderini Rosa is filling the void left by Gustavo Guimarães, who suddenly quit the job mid-January, announcing he would be no longer serving as Secretary-General of SECAP. The new SECAP secretary is the fourth for the agency since 2019.

Rosa, who was transferred from the Ministry of Education where he was in charge of the department’s policy for technology education and professional services administration, is expected to continue the agenda of his predecessor Guimarães, including overseeing the policy developments related to the official launch of Brazil’s new federal sports betting regime.

New Secretary-General Rosa holds a degree in mechatronics engineering from Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, an MBA from the London Business School of the University of London, as well as a doctorate in Public Administration and Government from Fundação Getulio Vargas. He has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors.

In his career serving for the government, Rosa performed numerous roles at the Ministry of Planning, Civil Aviation Secretariat, Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic, besides the Ministry of Education.

Conflicting Positions Delayed the Federal Regime

SECAP was charged with the policy development of the country’s sports betting laws in 2019, following the approval by the Senate of Bill MP-849 proposed by former President Michel Temer. The bill sought to authorize the government to overhaul Brazil’s lottery and sports betting legislation.

The path to developing a federal sports betting framework turned out to be painful, marred by conflicting positions of lawmakers and stakeholders on the subjects of licensing criteria and taxation. Due to these issues, Brazil is yet to launch its federal sports betting regime. In the meantime, some of the major players, such as FanDuel, started positioning themselves in anticipation of the long-awaited launch.

According to former secretary Guimarães, who spoke at last winter’s SBC Summit Latin America, the country’s inaugural sports betting regime could be live for the FIFA Qatar World Cup in November 2022, but officials have not published any formal plans yet.

Another upcoming event of significance will be Brazil’s General Elections scheduled for October 2, 2022, which will elect the country’s President and National Congress and may throw another spanner in the sports betting wheel.