Brazil: Lula bans sports betting days before election

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced a ban on sports betting sites, a major source of sponsorship for the country’s football clubs, days before the first round of a closely contested presidential election.

The decision, announced on Friday, comes as Brazil’s betting industry faces growing criticism over gambling-related debt and concerns about its social impact. Opinion polls have shown strong voter opposition to the sector, which Lula has called a “cancer.”

“It is no longer possible to deposit money into betting sites in the country,” Finance Minister Dario Durigan said at an event alongside the president.

The measure comes shortly before the October 4 first round of voting, in which Lula is seeking a fourth term and is running closely with right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in opinion polls.

Brazil’s sports betting market has grown rapidly since the country introduced a regulatory framework in 2023. The expansion has been accompanied by extensive advertising campaigns involving influencers and sports personalities.

Thirteen of Brazil’s 20 first-division football clubs currently have online betting companies as their main shirt sponsors. Neymar and Vinicius Junior are also among the leading football figures featured in advertisements for the sector.

A government statement said 85 betting licences had been issued, with each licence valued at 30 million reais ($5.7 million), and the fees are non-refundable.

Durigan said new advertising agreements with betting companies were immediately prohibited, while existing contracts would expire after October 6.

From that date, he said, there would be no “site, no application and no legal sponsorship of bets in the country.”

Flamengo, one of Brazil’s major football clubs, described the decision as a “heavy blow to Brazilian sports.”

The club warned that the consequences could affect professional football as well as youth academies, women’s football, Olympic sports and other competitions.

“Brazil spent years debating how to regulate sports betting,” Flamengo said. “One cannot establish a rule, induce companies and institutions to make commitments based on it, and then, overnight, overhaul the entire regulatory framework.”

Bolsonaro describes move as election-driven

Durigan said the government had previously tried to regulate the betting industry but that it had become a public health concern.

He said more than 60 billion reais ($11 billion) had flowed from families to legal betting companies.

After signing a provisional measure enforcing the ban, Lula said he had spoken with a young man who had attempted suicide three times because of gambling addiction.

“I decided to take a necessary, tough, and drastic measure. It’s like cancer,” Lula said. “Either we remove the tumor, or it kills us.”

The provisional measure must still be approved by Congress to become law.

Flavio Bolsonaro criticised the decision earlier on Friday.

“President Lula is desperate,” Bolsonaro said, calling it another “populist, hypocritical, and election-driven” measure introduced shortly before the election.

Several football clubs have also criticised the ban, saying betting sponsorships provide important financial support.

Lula rejected that argument as “nonsense” and called for an end to the “shamelessness in soccer.”

The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), which represents licensed betting operators, joined eight other industry associations in warning on Thursday that prohibition could push gamblers towards illegal betting platforms.

The groups also pointed to potential losses in tax revenue and employment.

According to the report, the betting sector paid 9.95 billion reais ($1.73 billion) in federal taxes in 2025.

“The challenges are real. The answer lies in oversight and stronger regulation,” ANJL said. “To regulate is to control. To ban is to lose control.”

Africans Angle News