Football players obtain injunction against betting companies for misuse of their image.
Four professional soccer players have obtained court injunctions to prevent betting companies from using their names and images on sports betting platforms. Forwards Guilherme Marques (Atlético-GO), Gabriel Barros (América-MG), and defender Gustavo Vilar (Botafogo-SP), all from the Brazilian Série B, obtained rulings against Verabet, Cassino Bet, and Bet365, respectively. Former Palmeiras player Ricardo Bueno, currently playing for Pouso Alegre in Série D, had previously obtained a similar injunction against Betano.
According to a report by ESPN.com.br , the lawsuits were structured by lawyer and businessman Marcelo Robalinho, from the career management company ThinkBall and the law firm RA LAW. The central objective of the lawsuits is to prevent betting companies from using athletes as benchmarks in individualized categories, such as "player to score a goal" and "player to receive a yellow card".
Threats and damage to image
For Robalinho, the problem goes beyond the unauthorized use of his image. Athletes report pressure and threats from bettors on social media when their individual results don't meet expectations.
“Athletes end up suffering numerous problems because of this connection. We have cases of athletes who are threatened on social media, with messages like: 'I bet you would score the goal, you missed the penalty, now I'm at a loss, you have to compensate me, you have to pay me for what happened, if anything I'll come to your training session'. This puts the athlete in a precarious, risky situation, in a case that the player did not agree to participate in, to be the product of that bet,” stated the lawyer.
Robalinho explained how individualized betting transforms the athlete into a product without their authorization. “There are various types of bets offered by these sites. Our action focuses on the issue of individualizing the athlete, because then the person is no longer betting on the result, victory or draw. They are betting that a certain athlete will receive a yellow card, or will score a goal, or will commit more than five fouls. This personalizes the product of their bet onto the athlete, using the player's name and their entire career,” he stated.
The lawyer compared the situation to the video game market, where developers need to license the right to use athletes' images, either through collective or individual negotiation. “In virtual games, when an athlete's name is used, companies are ordered to pay compensation, and that's a virtual environment. What's the difference with betting? Betting is the real world. The person is betting on that particular player, on their physical attributes, their image, their career. All the attributes of a highly personal right of the athlete are being used, without compensation, without authorization,” he stated.
Robalinho emphasized that protecting their image is the main motivation for athletes seeking the firm's services, not financial compensation. "The primary focus isn't just compensation; it's not about trying to make money from this," he stated. "Betting companies have other ways of selling their products, without identification or personalization, which not only damages the image but also puts the athlete's safety at risk," he added.
Betano's argument
Kaizen Gaming Brasil, owner of the Betano brand, contested the injunction obtained by Ricardo Bueno with two arguments. The first is that the legislation governing the fixed-odds betting market already provides a mechanism for remuneration for the use of athletes' names and images, with a portion of the revenue being transferred to entities of the National Sports System as compensation for the use of names, sports nicknames, images, brands, emblems, anthems, symbols, and similar items. The second argument is that the injunction decision did not analyze the distinction between improper use of image and the simple reference to the results of public sporting events.
