Kambi LatAm director warns ban on betting in Brazil
Brazil's betting ban is damaging investor confidence and threatening sports integrity, according to Kambi's director for Latin America, Mateo Lenoble, who told iGaming Business the provisional measure is disrupting the supplier's projects in the country - an interview published on October 20, 2026.
A supplier locked out of a market that only counts when regulated
Kambi works only in regulated markets, and Lenoble said the provisional measure that banned betting in Brazil has broken up the projects the company had been developing there. Its key clients in the country, who until the measure's publication ran Kambi's complete sports betting platform, are suffering under the enactment - and some are suffering more than others, because while some operate in other jurisdictions and still have breathing room, others run on Brazil alone. The company says it is supporting each affected partner until a final decision on the measure is reached. Note that this is a market-shape problem rather than a product problem: the technology and the operator relationships exist, and what is missing is the legal ground for them to operate on.
What Kambi wants before it returns
Lenoble left no doubt about the supplier's appetite: at the SBC Summit in Lisbon he spoke extensively about the possibility of operators returning, and he describes Brazil as an extremely attractive market among the largest in the world. Kambi would be open to coming back under a new regulatory framework and to supporting partners who decide to enter or return with it. But he also set expectations - and asked what would keep a repeat of the ban from happening again, "if a violation of the rules of a regulated market could occur once, it could potentially happen again." For that reason, even a rapid resumption of operations would not eliminate the legal uncertainty created by the prohibition.
Why the integrity stakes are higher than the commercial ones
Lenoble's sharpest warning concerns sport itself. In a regulated market with clear rules, he argued, it is far easier to combat illegal gambling and match-fixing; when the market is not regulated, bettors migrate to clandestine platforms, which weakens the government's and regulators' ability to control the sport and pushes risk upward. Kambi backs its position with infrastructure: partnerships against match-fixing, membership of the International Betting Integrity Association, and its own integrity department protecting clients. The cost of leaving that system empty is visible in the penalties handed down elsewhere, from a 24-year ban for a tennis match-fixer to the wide net regulators keep casting over corrupt betting, and it is the reason the supplier keeps arguing that regulation and integrity are one debate.
Key takeaways
The practical takeaway: Brazil's provisional measure has frozen Kambi's projects and put its Brazilian-only partners under finance pressure, and the supplier sets one condition for returning - a framework whose rules survive politics. Caveat: even fast restoration would not remove the legal uncertainty, in Lenoble's view. The integrity link is direct: unregulated markets push bettors to clandestine platforms, and monitoring bodies lose sight of the sport they are meant to protect.
Frequently asked questions
What is the "provisional measure" in Brazil? It is the legal instrument referenced throughout Lenoble's interview as the act that banned betting in Brazil, disrupting Kambi's projects and hitting partner operators until a final decision is reached.
Is Kambi planning to return to the Brazilian market? Yes - Lenoble says Kambi is open to returning under a new regulatory framework, actively supports partners entering or returning, and continues investing in the market, while warning that uncertainty will persist for some time.
How does a betting ban threaten sporting integrity? Without regulation and oversight, bettors move to clandestine platforms, weakening the fight against illegal gambling and match-fixing - the failure mode regulators worldwide keep penalising, as recent betting-integrity cases show.
Industry Context and Analysis
Industry analysis of the warning, and why it matters: suppliers who only operate in regulated markets are the severest stress test of a country's policy stability, because their physical absence is the price a proposed framework pays for legal uncertainty - and interviews like this turn that price into language negotiators can actually cite.
Related coverage
Sources and further reading
- Primary source: igamingbusiness.com
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