TLDR Brazil’s Senate Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) removed Article 139 from Public Security PEC 18/2025. The article would have sent 30% of fixed-odds betting revenue to security and prison funds instead of sports. The change avoids an estimated loss of about R$500 million a year for Brazil’s sports budget. Senator Rogério Carvalho led the report that kept the current funding law in place. Sports groups including CBC and FENACLUBES say the fight continues in the full Senate vote.
Brazil’s sports sector avoided a funding cut this week after a Senate committee removed a measure that would have redirected betting revenue away from sports programs. The Constitution and Justice Committee, known as the CCJ, dropped Article 139 from a broader security proposal called PEC 18/2025.
The article had already passed the Chamber of Deputies. It called for 30% of income from fixed-odds betting to go to the National Public Security Fund and the National Penitentiary Fund.
What the Original Proposal Would Have Changed
Under current law, betting revenue supports sports development programs across Brazil. The proposal would have cut into that funding to pay for public security and prison systems instead.
Sports organizations estimated the change would have cost the sector about R$500 million a year. That money currently supports athlete training, grassroots programs, and local sports events.
Senator Rogério Carvalho of the Workers’ Party wrote the new report that kept the funding structure as it stands under Law No. 13.756/2018. He said the original proposal did not get enough discussion before being included in the bill.
Carvalho also said public security has other funding sources available. He argued the sports sector should not lose money to cover a different budget need.
Sports Groups Organize a Response
A group of Brazilian sports organizations pushed back against the