Kambi's Mateo Lenoble says Brazil betting ban creates legal uncertainty and raises sports integrity risks

Mateo Lenoble, Kambi's director for Latin America, has warned that Brazil's ban on betting operators is hindering progress and undermining confidence in the market. Speaking in an interview with iGaming Business, he said the provisional measure has disrupted projects the supplier had been developing in the country, noting that Kambi works only in regulated markets.

Lenoble argued that even a rapid resumption of operations would not remove the legal uncertainty created by the measure. He said that uncertainty is likely to persist for some time, reasoning that if a regulated market's rules could be overridden once, the same could happen again. He added that Kambi would be open to returning under a new regulatory framework and to supporting partners that decide to enter or come back to Brazil, describing the market as extremely attractive and among the largest in the world.

On the commercial impact, Lenoble said Kambi has key clients in Brazil that used its complete sports betting platform until the provisional measure was published. Kambi is supporting each of them until a final decision is reached. He said some are affected more severely than others: operators active only in Brazil face greater difficulty, while those with licences in other jurisdictions have some breathing room. Kambi wants to keep investing in and developing the Brazilian market, he said, but how that happens will depend on how events unfold.

The executive also focused on sports integrity. He maintained that a regulated market with clear rules is needed to fight match-fixing and illegal gambling. Without such an environment, he said, bettors tend to migrate to clandestine platforms, and the government and regulator lose the power and ability to oversee the sector and put necessary safeguards in place. In his view, this creates real risks of compromising the integrity of sport.

Lenoble pointed to Kambi's own integrity department and its membership, along with many of its partners, of the International Betting Integrity Association. He said the company has partnerships aimed at combating match-fixing and works to ensure its clients can offer bettors safe betting options.