In brief
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has banned online sports betting and casinos just a week before Brazil’s election, calling the industry a cancer. The measure, legalised in 2018, faces backlash from opponents and will need congressional approval within 120 days. Lula’s move comes as polls show a neck‑and‑neck race with Flávio Bolsonaro, who decried the crackdown as populist.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a provisional order banning all sports betting and online casinos in Brazil just days before the presidential election.
The online gambling sector only legalised in 2018, but critics say it has fueled gambling addiction and eroded household incomes.
In the statement, Lula called the industry a cancer, warning that it will either be eliminated or it will kill families.
The deadline for the ban is the first round of voting within a week. Polls show the 80‑year‑old leader neck‑and‑neck with Flavio Bolsonaro.
The order must receive congressional approval within 120 days to stay in effect.
Lula said that the betting industry grew unchecked under the previous administrations, with no restrictions on children or young people getting in.
The president added that we will not let betting firms profit at the cost of families’ livelihoods.
He cited families that had sold their homes to pay for gambling debts.
Alongside the ban, Lula signed a bill to penalise fixed‑odds betting fraud.
At the UN General Assembly earlier this week, Lula said the sector had turned addiction into profit.
Flavio Bolsonaro called the crackdown populist and political, during a rally in Rio de Janeiro.
While other forms of gambling remain illegal, the surge in online betting has made it a popular problem.
A survey by Atlas and Bloomberg found that 59.9% of adults favour a ban on internet betting.
