The problem of online betting in Argentina “requires an immediate response,” said the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral when requesting the Chamber of Deputies to deal with the bills intended to provide regulation on the matter and the prevention of gambling addiction. , before the end of the current legislative period.
Through a note sent to the president of the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation, Martín Menem, the Social Pastoral of the Argentine Episcopal Conference expressed its support for the favorable opinion of the bills aimed at regulating online betting and preventing gambling addiction.
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“We consider it urgent that the text approved in plenary session of five committees on Wednesday, November 13, receive treatment in the chamber,” the Commission states.
Along these lines, he requested that the issue be considered “in a special session convened for this purpose or in an extension of the agenda of an already planned session, so that these initiatives can be addressed before the end of the current legislative period.” .
“Every day we observe a worrying increase in the number of children, adolescents and young people throughout the country who, facilitated by massive access to new technologies, fall into the scourge of gambling addiction,” the Social Pastoral warns.
Likewise, they remember that last July they issued the document Betting is not a game which “collects the voices of more than 50 social pastoral teams from all over the country who expressed their deep concern about this reality that affects our communities, neighborhoods and educational centers.”
This document suggests, among other things, “that the law contemplate, among other measures, preventive campaigns on problematic gambling consumption; prohibition of advertising; increase in access restrictions for minors through filters and biometric identification; blocking of gambling sites game in educational establishments.”
When addressing the Chamber of Deputies, the Social Pastoral Commission, whose new president is the Bishop of La Rioja, Mons. Dante Gustavo Braida, thanked that the proposals had been “taken into account” and ratified the “concern of the Church for the advance of gambling addiction that affects many families and especially young people who today have the possibility, through their mobile phones and the Internet, of accessing gambling, especially on illegal sites.
Finally, he insisted on requesting “soon treatment of a rule that prevents gambling addiction, regulates online betting and punishes illegal gambling.”
Betting in Argentina
A report published in June by the Argentine newspaper Clarion points out that, of the large number of online betting users, almost 80% are part of the illegal circuit.
Translated into figures, more than 11 million unique Argentine users use unofficial betting platforms, that is, without regulation, according to the Argentine media.
The regulation of the activity depends on each province: In Santa Fe, it has been authorized since 2020; while in the City and Province of Buenos Aires, it was approved in 2021. Córdoba and Mendoza gave the go-ahead in 2023.
Created in July 2024, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office against illegal Games of Chance The City of Buenos Aires recently blocked 237 illegal gambling websites.
The Human Development Observatory, based on the report from the Center for Studies Thinking Public Policies 2023led by Walter Martello, determined that the most chosen online betting options in Argentina are linked to casino-type games (49.9%) and soccer (41.2%), followed by bingos (37% ) and boxing (16.8%).
The report Betting is not a gamepublished in September 2024, which was carried out in 360 locations in the 24 Argentine provinces and had more than 9,000 interviewees, including men and women aged 15 to 29, revealed that almost all adolescents and young people heard about betting on-line.
According to the study, 4 out of 10 teenagers currently bet or recently bet; and 3 out of 4 bettors dedicate up to 2 hours a day to it.
30% of bettors have experienced anxiety or stress due to not being able to place a bet, and the majority of bettors (60%) consider that they win by chance, especially those who bet in casinos. However, 1 in 5 believe that the result depends on their knowledge of the sport or discipline on which they bet.
Furthermore, adolescents and young people bet the equivalent of 2 out of every 3 pesos they receive from their fathers and mothers to cover daily expenses; and 3 out of 4 interviewees know friends or relatives who place bets online.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.