Last week, Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that would prohibit the advertising of online gambling and sports betting in the country.

And on the latest episode of iGaming Daily, Fernando Noodt was joined by Lucía Gando, Editor of SBC Noticias, to discuss the news.

Lucía began by explaining that the aim of the bill is to address the “pandemic of teenagers participating in illegal gaming sites”. 

If passed, the legislation will prevent the advertising of gambling on all platforms, including social media, radio and TV. However, Lucía noted that the biggest impact will be on the sports industry.

She said: “The greatest impact would be on the sports sector as sponsorship would be banned. 

“This would mean that betting brands would not be able to appear in any stadium, on sportswear or any social platform from athletes, clubs or leagues. We know right now that major sports brands in Argentina, like Boca [Juniors], River [Plate] and even the national team, have partnerships with the betting industry so this would impact their financial structures.”

Although passed by the Chamber of Deputies, the proposal still has to go through the Senate before being enacted into law, and Fernando explained that there is speculation of opposition from government officials. 

Journalists close to government officials have quoted key sources from the government, saying that they “might actually veto this bill should it make it through the Senate”, said Fernando.

He added: “I have done my own research as well and right now it seems like nobody is liking how this bill has been structured. There will probably be a lot of hurdles in the bill in the Senate and it might fail there. Even if it does make progress it will probably be severely changed, which will force the bill back to the Chamber of Deputies, so it is a big wait and see in Buenos Aires.”

Elsewhere in Argentina, concerns are increasing over match-fixing in football.

Over the weekend, Daniel Oldrá, coach of the Argentine first division team Godoy Cruz, resigned and said that he could no longer trust his players.

Quoting Oldrá, Fernando said: “He apparently didn’t trust his players and he said with the issue of betting the essence of football has been lost.”

The Godoy Cruz players have all denied the allegations made by their former coach.

Additionally, following match-fixing suspicions regarding a referee in the lower tiers of Argentinian football, lawmakers have proposed that referees provide income statements to the Argentinian Football Association in an effort to monitor signs of suspicious activity.