The Ibero-American Corporation of State Lotteries and Betting (CIBELAE) inaugurated on March 25 its Seminar on Illegal Gambling and Security in San José, Costa Rica, in a meeting that brought together more than 25 lotteries, regulatory bodies, and leading companies in the sector under the slogan “Technology and regulation against fraud.” The event was supported by the World Lottery Association (WLA) and the Social Protection Board of Costa Rica (JPS), which served as the host lottery.
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Regulation and technology, the two axes of the debate
The first day of the seminar focused on the interventions of experts who addressed the same central problem from different angles: how to modernize regulatory frameworks and which technological tools are most effective in reducing the risks posed by illegal gambling in today’s digital environment.
The consensus among the speakers pointed in a clear direction: neither of the two dimensions, regulatory and technological, can operate in isolation. Regulatory updates without technological support leave operational gaps; technology without a solid legal framework loses effectiveness against actors who move with agility in the gray areas of jurisdiction.
Voices from the sector: regional proposals and experiences
Mariela Vargas, president of the JPS of Costa Rica
The president of the Social Protection Board of Costa Rica stressed the need to address illegal gambling from a comprehensive approach that combines the updating of regulatory frameworks with greater coordination between jurisdictions. According to Vargas, this coordination is key to strengthening the institutional role of state lotteries against operators who operate without controls.
Andreas Kötter, president of the World Lottery Association
Kötter provided a global perspective focused on the importance of maintaining consistent work methodologies in the face of a phenomenon that is constantly evolving. The president of the WLA also emphasized continuous training as a fundamental tool to improve the sector’s responsiveness to new forms of fraud.
Robert Chvátal, CEO of Allwyn
The head of Allwyn presented a three-pillar scheme to limit the actions of illegal operators: the restriction of unauthorized advertising, the blocking of digital infrastructures, and the interruption of payment channels.
Mario Parada, president of the Lotería de Concepción
Parada shared the Chilean experience in the judicialization of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as a concrete mechanism to block access to offshore operators. The presentation provided a regional application case that illustrates how the judicial system can become an active ally of state lotteries in their fight against illegal gambling.
Renato Siqueira, Caixa Loterias
The representative of Caixa Loterias stated that the incorporation of technology in the fight against illegal gambling must be accompanied by an institutional positioning strategy. For Siqueira, it is not enough for official lotteries to be more efficient: society must also recognize their official character and understand the social impact they generate, as a condition for trust in the formal system to be sustained over time.
Ezequiel Domínguez, LOTBA and ALEA
The director of the Lottery of the City of Buenos Aires (LOTBA) and representative of the Association of State Lotteries of Argentina (ALEA) focused on the need for the lotteries themselves to take an active role in the judicial field. Domínguez remarked that illegal gambling is not just another form of unfair competition, but a crime, and that this characterization must be the starting point for any serious preventive awareness strategy.
A meeting that consolidates Ibero-American cooperation
The CIBELAE seminar in Costa Rica is not just a space for exchanging experiences: it is also a sign that the Ibero-American state lottery sector is willing to act in a coordinated manner against a problem that no country can solve in isolation.
The diversity of perspectives brought together on the first day, from the global vision of the WLA to the national cases of Chile, Brazil, and Argentina, reflects both the magnitude of the challenge and the variety of tools available to face it. The common denominator in all the interventions was the conviction that inaction has a concrete cost, both in terms of revenue collection and user protection and the institutional credibility of formal gambling.
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