Brazil’s sports betting regulations will reportedly be ready by this summer, although the market isn’t expected to launch until next year. 

In an interview published Sunday, Waldir Eustáquio Marques Jr., the undersecretary of prizes and sweepstakes in the Economic Ministry’s Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP), said the government will have final online and land-based sports betting rules ready for release by July. 

However, issuing licenses will take more time and the betting market isn’t expected to launch until early 2022, which would be over three years since Brazil approved its betting legislation. Marques said the delays were due to the government’s desire to avoid “having to take a step forward and another step back.” 

Marques revealed that the government was close to formalizing its regs last year until SECAP had a change of heart regarding the number of licenses it intends to issue. Marques said the original plan to authorize every company that met the licensing requirements had “some points that could be harmful. So we had to put the brakes on, review the model, in order to be able to proceed safely.”