The president, accompanied by several of his ministers, led an event in São Paulo in which he materialized the veto of the so-called 'bets', "a definitive ban" and that encompasses "all types of digital bets", as well as the advertising of companies in the sector.
The progressive leader will also send Parliament, on an emergency basis, a bill to classify the activity in the criminal code and "strengthen the repression of gambling in the country," said the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, at the ceremony.
In addition, it will expand its debt renegotiation program for families with the intention of dealing with "older loans" and promoting a "healthier" credit market.
The decree prohibiting online betting will automatically enter into force when it is published in the Official Journal, although Parliament will have to validate it within a maximum period of 120 days to maintain its validity.
Lula's pulse against betting
Lula has made one of his electoral flags the fight against 'bets', to which he attributes the growth of family debt and accuses of "destroying millions of homes" by transforming "vice into economic benefits".
With the veto, Lula seeks to strike an effect in the final stretch of a very tight presidential race, for which the polls place him in a technical tie with Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Online bookmakers have experienced exponential growth in Brazil since they were legalized in 2018 during the government of liberal Michel Temer.
They operated without regulation the following years, coinciding with the mandate of Jair Bolsonaro, until in 2023, already with Lula in power, the sector was regulated, with the granting of authorizations and the payment of taxes.
Currently, 85 companies operate legally in the country.
However, its rapid popularization, especially among the poor layers of society, turned on the alarms in the Executive, which began to introduce restrictions.
In 2025, about 25 million Brazilians bet 220.6 billion reais (42.5 billion dollars / 37.15 billion euros at today's exchange rate) on sports betting and online casinos, according to official data.
The message from the bookmakers
The associations that bring together the bookmakers in Brazil said this Friday that the decision of the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to ban sports betting on the Internet and virtual casinos will encourage a clandestine market in which players will not have protection.
"The ban does not end with betting in Brazil but with the protection of those who bet," the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gambling (IBJR) and the 85 betting houses that had a license to operate in the country said in a joint manifesto.
According to these companies, banning legal bets does not eliminate gambling and all it does is take bettors to clandestine portals, where there are no control or protection mechanisms.
Dingnews.com 28/09/2026