Ecuador entered a new phase of gambling regulation after the Procuraduría General del Estado (PGE) reaffirmed that casinos and land-based gaming halls remain prohibited under the country’s current legal framework, while lawmakers simultaneously continue advancing a criminal reform targeting match-fixing and corruption linked to sports betting. The developments reflect the current strategy of President Daniel Noboa: preserving the prohibitionist retail gaming model established after the 2011 national referendum while strengthening criminal enforcement, financial oversight and sports-integrity controls surrounding online betting ecosystems.
The clarification issued by the Procuraduría General del Estado (PGE), led by Procurador General Juan Carlos Larrea Valencia, was not a judicial ruling but an official legal opinion reaffirming Ecuador’s existing prohibition on casinos, slot machines and physical gambling venues. Through Official Letter No. 16528 dated May 4, 2026, issued in response to a consultation from the Junta de Beneficencia de Guayaquil, the PGE reiterated that gambling establishments remain banned under Ecuadorian law following the referendum promoted during the government of former president Rafael Correa. The institution’s role focuses on defending the Ecuadorian State in legal and arbitration matters and issuing binding legal criteria regarding the interpretation of existing legislation.
Daniel Novoa
The issue gained additional relevance after authorities shut down the controversial Casino del Sol operation located next to the Sheraton Guayaquil Hotel, allegedly linked to the Fundación Ecuatoriana de Fibrosis Quística and operator SUNSETBET S.A.S. The venue was closed in February 2026 and remains under investigation by Ecuadorian authorities. The legal barrier preventing a broader reopening of casinos had already been reinforced earlier when the Constitutional Court of Ecuador rejected President Noboa’s proposal to include a referendum question authorizing casinos inside five-star hotels under a special tax structure. The court concluded that the proposal improperly combined reopening measures, taxation mechanisms and allocation of public resources within a single constitutional question.
Niels Olsen Peet
At the same time, the National Assembly of Ecuador, chaired by Niels Olsen Peet, continues debating a reform to the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code (COIP) aimed at criminalizing sports-result manipulation, bribery and corruption associated with betting networks. The initiative, promoted by lawmaker Andrés Castillo, is currently under review within the Justice and State Structure Commission before potentially advancing to plenary voting. Authorities argue Ecuador still lacks a specific criminal classification for match-fixing linked to illegal betting structures, creating enforcement gaps around organized crime, money laundering and sports corruption.
Francisco Egas
The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF), led by Francisco Egas, is already working alongside FIFA and CONMEBOL on monitoring systems designed to detect suspicious betting patterns and integrity threats in professional football. Ecuador is also reviewing international frameworks such as the Macolin Convention and anti-corruption models used in Europe and Brazil as references for future sports-betting regulation.
What comes next for Ecuador is tighter scrutiny over digital betting platforms, stronger AML enforcement, deeper cooperation between sports authorities and regulators and renewed political debate over whether the country should indefinitely maintain the prohibitionist framework established in 2011 or eventually transition toward a controlled and taxed land-based gaming model.
