The AUF asks not to fine betting advertising at the Centenario stadium
On November 28, the Estadio Centenario will host the Copa Libertadores final, and it is still unresolved what will happen with the sports betting advertisements that accompany the tournament. The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) asked the Government to, at least for that night, refrain from sanctioning the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) for displaying such advertising in Montevideo.
The request was made at the highest level. According to the weekly Búsqueda, AUF president Ignacio Alonso brought the issue to a meeting with President Yamandú Orsi, which was also attended by Alejandro Domínguez, head of Conmebol.
The conflict did not begin with the final. As private sportsbooks are not authorized to operate in the country, the State has been applying sanctions to Conmebol and Uruguayan clubs every time these brands appear in stadiums or on jerseys.
Orsi described the situation without euphemisms and spoke of an absurdity awaiting resolution. He explained that a local club ends up paying a fine from the Ministry of Economy and Finance when it hosts a foreign rival that carries one of these companies on its chest, something increasingly frequent in the Libertadores and Sudamericana, where almost all Brazilian teams have this type of sponsorship. He compared the pressure on the teams to a Sword of Damocles and highlighted the difference between what can be managed, such as static billboards or what goes on air, and what cannot, such as the visitor's uniform.
The opening has a clear limit. The president clarified that the meeting did not include any request for legal reform and that his Government is not evaluating modifying the status of private betting in the country.
On the organizational side, a partial solution is already underway. Conmebol works with differentiated advertising depending on the country where each broadcast is aired, so what a Uruguayan viewer sees is not necessarily the same as what reaches a Brazilian screen.
Uruguay reserves sports betting to the State through the National Directorate of Lotteries and Quinielas, which markets them through its Supermatch platform, and does not grant licenses to private operators, so the advertising of these brands falls outside the current legal framework. The Estadio Centenario, inaugurated for the 1930 World Cup, will host the continental final under the single-match format that Conmebol adopted several years ago.
Tags: Uruguayan Football Association, CONMEBOL, Copa Libertadores final, gambling advertising in Uruguay