The Chamber of Deputies is due to vote this Wednesday (6th) on the General Sports Law, a project that provides for an increase in the penalty for cases of racism in the sports environment, parity between awards for men and women, in addition to punishing corrupt top hats and providing support. for athletes to express their personal opinions.
In practice, the General Sports Law replaces and consolidates the Pelé Law and a series of other laws in the area in a single text.
In the text that will be voted on, the section that prohibited sponsorships from sports betting companies without headquarters in Brazil – in practice, from all those currently operating in the country – was changed. Now, the project requires companies to have representatives in the country to advertise.
Claims from some sectors of sport, such as the equality of votes in the elections of sports entities for all their members (for example, clubs and federations), were not contemplated in the text.
Another point that has been generating noise is the forecast that fired athletes receive only 50% of the rest of their contract values ​​— currently, clubs must pay 100%.
As the proposal came from the Senate and had amendments, it will return for further consideration by the senators.
The basis of the document is the bill reported by senator and former volleyball athlete Leila Barros (PDT-DF). In the Chamber, the report is by deputy Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE).
On the afternoon of this Tuesday (5), the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), met for about an hour with representatives of football clubs, sports confederations and the COB (Olympic Committee of Brazil) and pledged to put the text to a vote on Wednesday. The proposal can still be amended and amended until it is actually deliberate.
If approved, as stated in the report that was discussed at the meeting with Lira, the bill provides for two to four years of imprisonment for cases of racism or crimes committed against women – the Court can convert this penalty into removal from the stadium.
The well-known articles 18 and 18A of the Pelé Law, which prohibit sports entities from receiving public funds if they do not respect the principles of alternation of power, transparency and the participation of athletes in their assemblies, were converted into article 35 of the new law.
The novelty is that, now, the law provides that, in order to enjoy the resources of the National Sports System (a new body that will organize the distribution of federal resources), an entity has to offer equivalent awards to men and women, as well as parasport athletes. , in competitions “that they organize or participate in”.
The claim from athletes and clubs to have greater voting power in domestic presidential elections, for example, is not provided for in the text.
Currently in the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), for example, the vote of state federations has a weight of three, while Serie A clubs, two. There was debate for equivalence in decision-making power, but the idea did not take hold.
The section on the ban on sports betting companies not based in Brazil from advertising in a sports environment was changed from the previous report. Now, these companies just need to have a representative in the country for them to publicize their brands.
The difference is big, since, currently, the activity is not regulated in the country, which prevents these companies from being hosted here.
Thus, all the sites that currently offer the service in Brazil, in fact, have headquarters in other places, especially tax havens, which not only prevents the collection of taxes by the federal government but also makes it difficult to inspect the sector.
Currently, 35 of the 40 clubs in the A and B series of Brazilian football are sponsored by sports betting companies.
Despite the activity having already been regularized in 2018, since then the federal government has not implemented its regulation – and it has until the end of the year to do so, by law.
Still on the sector, the text provides that part of the collection of companies with this activity, once it is regulated, will be reverted to sports confederations not only of football.
The bill also frames all sports as professional — before, only football used to have that kind of designation.
As a result, other high-performance sports, such as basketball and volleyball, will need to follow the rules of the fan statute (which imposes, for example, the availability of ambulances in the arenas) and are also prevented from using the Sports Incentive Law to payment of wages.
The text also says that, to the athletes of the basic categories, it must be provided visits to family and also a program of continuous orientation against abuse and sexual exploitation. And it provides for imprisonment of two to four years for the sports director who commits the crime of private corruption.
Finally, the bill says that those involved in the sport “will not be punished for any manifestations, by words, gestures or other form of expression”, unless they constitute an offense provided for by law or violate practices of the sport.
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