Mariana Piccoli assumes the Sub-Secretariat of Sanctioning Action at SPA-MF.
The Ministry of Finance appointed Mariana Piccoli Lins Cavalcanti, this Tuesday (September 15th), to the position of Undersecretary of Sanctioning Action of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), the area responsible for the supervision and penalties applied to sports betting platforms. The appointment was published in the edition of the Official Gazette of the Union and signed by the Minister of the Civil House, Miriam Belchior, based on Decree No. 9.794/2019.
Mariana Piccoli Lins Cavalcanti replaces Raiana Falcão Ferreira, who was dismissed in early September. The new undersecretary will assume the position, being relieved of her previous duties.
Federal Public Servant, member of the career track of Specialists in Public Policies and Government Management, appointed in 2012. Master's degree in Economics from the Brazilian Institute of Teaching, Development and Research (2022). Postgraduate degree in Competition Law from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (2011). Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Brasília (2009) and in Law from the University Center of Brasília (2006).
Since 2025, she has worked as an advisor in the National Data Infrastructure Department of the Digital Government Secretariat of the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services.
Restructuring of the betting department
The appointment fills a vacancy that had been open since the Treasury Department carried out a broader restructuring of the SPA (Subsecretariat of Authorizations). In August, the department had already replaced Daniela Olímpio de Oliveira in the Subsecretariat of Authorizations, substituting her for Fernanda Villela Oliveira, who was previously the general coordinator of Commercial Promotions Inspection. The official explanation for the changes is that some positions had accumulated wear and tear and needed to be renewed.
When asked by Estadão reporters about Daniela Olímpio's departure, the Finance Ministry limited itself to stating that "the position is subject to free appointment and dismissal." Olímpio said she had completed her tasks and was moving on to new challenges. Raiana Falcão, in turn, stated that she had worked on "improving the sanctioning regime" and maintained that "sanctioning activity is not limited to punishment," as it also "fulfills an important educational and preventive function."
Both had been hired in early 2024 by the then head of the SPA, lawyer José Francisco Manssur, and remained in their positions when Régis Dudena took over the secretariat in April of that year. Dudena went on to head the Secretariat of Economic Reforms under Minister Dario Durigan. Since March 2026, Daniele Correa Cardoso has been in charge of the SPA-MF.
Bets on the election agenda
The team's reconfiguration reflects a change in context; the issue of betting has ceased to be restricted to economic and social debate and has gained electoral weight. The main candidates for the Presidency of the Republic have begun to explore the issue of betting on their platforms, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), one of the sector's most vehement critics, has stated that betting needs to end.
Under pressure for more transparency in the authorization processes, the government released, on Wednesday (September 10th), more than 2,000 pages of documents related to the 85 companies authorized by the SPA to operate fixed-odds betting . The new team at the secretariat presents itself with the promise of increasing rigor both in authorizations and in the application of sanctions to platforms that fail to comply with regulatory requirements.
