Brazilian Federal Police creates division to combat illegal betting and match-fixing.
The Federal Police will create a division dedicated to combating illegal gambling in the country. The restructuring of one of the corporation's directorates has already received the approval of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), according to government officials.
The proposal was revealed by Folha de S.Paulo based on an internal document from the Federal Police formalized by the corporation's director-general, Andrei Rodrigues, to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security this Friday (September 25). The request was sent on the same day that Lula signed a provisional measure (MP) to make the exploitation of fixed-odds betting, known as bets, illegal.
The restructuring includes, in addition to the division for combating illegal betting, a specific unit to combat the manipulation of sports results and structures focused on investigating the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering schemes. The estimated monthly financial cost for creating the new structures is R$ 44,9.
Planned structure
The core of the reorganization is the creation of the General Coordination for the Repression of Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (CGLA), linked to the Directorate of Investigation and Combat against Organized Crime and Corruption (Dicor). Within the CGLA, the organizational chart includes a Financial Intelligence and Money Laundering Coordination, with a specific service to investigate crimes involving virtual assets, and an Asset Recovery Coordination, focused on asset investigation and the management, sale, and disposal of assets linked to crimes.
The plan also includes the creation of the Division for the Repression of Illegal Betting and the Division for the Repression of Sports Match-Fixing. In total, the plan encompasses 17 new administrative units, utilizing three existing structures currently linked to the General Coordination for the Repression of Corruption, Financial Crimes and Money Laundering (CGRC).
In the document sent to the Ministry of Justice, Andrei Rodrigues stated that the reorganization aims to "strengthen the institutional capacity of the Federal Police to confront economic organized crime, through the integration, in a specialized central structure, of the repression of money laundering, financial intelligence, asset investigation and asset recovery, in addition to combating illegal betting and the manipulation of sports results."
Decision context
The crackdown on illegal betting became a major concern for the Executive branch after Lula opted for a total ban on the activity. The president even considered an intermediate alternative, which would only prohibit online casinos and tighten advertising rules for betting sites. The decision to completely ban all forms of online betting and casinos was seen by aides as a high-risk move; any failure to monitor illegal platforms could damage the government's image with the public.
Online betting was authorized during Michel Temer's government (2016-2018) and continued through Jair Bolsonaro's government (2019-2022) without regulation. In 2024, Lula's government decided to regulate the sector, starting to collect taxes from companies in the segment. The Provisional Measure signed this Friday (September 25th) represented a reversal of that policy.
In May of this year, on the eve of the World Cup, the Federal Police had already created a temporary group to investigate match-fixing, betting fraud, and illegal betting. The new structure planned by the agency represents a more lasting restructuring and signals greater institutional priority for the issue.
Operations and blockades
On Tuesday (September 29), the Ministry of Justice reported that it had requested the blocking of 5.209 betting websites that began operating illegally after the Provisional Measure. The ministry also reported that the Federal Police has been investigating schemes related to illegal betting and the manipulation of sports results for three years.
Between March 2023 and August 2026, the corporation launched 12 operations related to these practices. The actions resulted in the issuance of at least 73 search and seizure warrants and 15 arrest warrants, reaching suspects in Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraíba, and the Federal District.
During the same period, the Federal Police requested the seizure of R$ 4,17 billion in assets and valuables related to the investigations. The corporation is also part of an Interpol task force focused on combating the manipulation of sports results, through which it exchanges information and investigation methodologies with other countries. In 2025, the Federal Police seized R$ 71 million in cryptocurrencies used in the crime, compared to R$ 11,1 million the previous year, although criminal gangs move tens of billions of reais in this modality.
