by Brasil de Fato
The impasse is over. After days of uncertainty over what Brazil should do about online betting, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government announced Friday in São Paulo that sports betting houses will be shut down nationwide. Online casinos, including gambling games such as Tigrinho, are banned as well.
At campaign rally in Recife on Friday, Pres. Lula holds sign saying, “The end of bets”. L-R: Marilia Arraes (PDT), Senator Humberto Costa (PT), João Campos (PSB) and Lula (photo: Ricardo Stuckert)
The bans on bets and online casinos took effect immediately. Lula is also expected to send Congress a bill establishing penalties for anyone who operates, runs or promotes betting.
The move came through a decree signed by Lula, which took effect right away. Finance Minister Dario Durigan made the announcement and explained the reasoning. “Our decision stems from the harmful effect that bets have had in Brazil,” Durigan said. He pointed to two moments of “shame and neglect” in how betting was handled under the previous governments of Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro.
“First, Temer authorized bets and set a two-year deadline for regulation, to prevent use by children and teenagers and to put measures in place against money laundering,” Durigan said. “Nothing was done, and the deadline was extended. But once again, nothing was done under Jair Bolsonaro’s government either.”
Anyone who still has money in legal betting accounts will be able to withdraw it. “As of today, no more money can be deposited onto betting sites in Brazil,” Durigan said. “The sites will remain available until 11:59 p.m. on October 5, so that anyone with a balance in a betting account can withdraw their money.”
After that, betting sites must forward the funds to banks through a special account set up for reimbursement, reporting the amount, the bettor’s individual taxpayer number and the bank the bet came from. On October 6, all betting sites will be taken offline for good.
Betting sites have been ordered to fully return the balances of bettors who still had money on their platforms between October 9 and 14. Starting October 14, the Caixa Econômica federal savings bank will step in to help with reimbursements if bettors run into problems with other banks.
The government also plans to step up enforcement now that all forms of betting are illegal. It will first coordinate with the telecommunications regulator Anatel to make sure all betting sites are taken offline. It will also track any new sites that appear after the ban.
Any Pix or wire transfer for illegal betting, including bets or Tigrinho-style games, will also be banned. Bank accounts identified as belonging to betting sites or groups will be frozen, and the funds will be seized for use in public safety.
The federal government’s FalaBR platform will also be used to receive reports of illegal betting.
Durigan said the government will also launch a new version of its Desenrola debt relief program, this one focused on debts tied to betting. “Online gambling is closely linked to Brazilians’ debt problems. We’re going to build good credit alternatives and fight abusive lending,” Durigan said. “We will keep building a country free of bets, with more income for people and more opportunity to get back to a normal life.”
The presidential decree will now go to Congress, which is in recess because of the elections. It will remain in effect for 60 days and can be extended for another 60. The government expects lawmakers to approve it in November, when they return to work.
A Public Health Issue
Health Minister Alexandre Padilha stressed the health concerns behind the government’s move to end sports betting and online casinos in Brazil. The problem goes beyond financial loss: gambling disorder is linked to anxiety, depression, loss of control, changes in sleep and mood, family conflict, isolation, damage to personal and professional relationships, and higher use of alcohol and other drugs.
Data from the World Health Organization show that the suicide rate is 15 times higher among people with gambling disorder. Financial hardship is the main factor associated with suicide among bettors.
The risk of developing an addiction is also three times higher among socioeconomically vulnerable people and 150% higher among online gamblers. In 2023, more than 28 million Brazilians had placed a bet in the previous 12 months, and 10.9 million showed risky or problematic gambling patterns.
According to Padilha, the damage bets have caused to Brazil’s public health system (the SUS) comes to about $7.4 billion a year, through suicide, lost quality of life due to depression, and the effects of job loss, eviction and incarceration. Among students, 20% have placed a bet at some point.
“Between 2018 and 2025, visits to mental health clinics rose by 140%,” he said.
Padilha also said women end up bearing a heavy impact even when they don’t bet themselves. “They often bet to try to save the finances of a son, a father or a husband. Even when they don’t bet, they’re affected by rising violence, by increased drug use linked to the impact of betting, and by the decline in their family’s finances,” he said.
“Women are the ones who bet the least, but they’re the ones who seek out the most support services for this problem,” Padilha said.
Penalties
Justice and Public Security Minister Wellington César Lima e Silva said Lula’s decision to end bets came after extensive discussions and consultations with experts from various fields. “This is a decision that protects, cares for and fights crime, all at once.”
Lima e Silva noted that the betting industry is especially prone to money laundering and can create openings for organized crime. “We’re going to send a bill that creates five new criminal offenses, to make sure the rules in this provisional measure are taken seriously across every segment,” he said.
The new crimes planned include: operating fixed-odds betting, even if authorized by a foreign authority (four to six years in prison); advertising fixed-odds betting or recruiting bettors (two to four years in prison and a fine); using personal data to recruit bettors (two to four years in prison and a fine, with a harsher sentence if the data involves betting history, health information, or belongs to a child or teenager); providing financial support for fixed-odds betting operations (two to four years in prison and a fine); and supplying an internet application for fixed-odds betting (two to four years in prison and a fine, with a harsher sentence if the app evades age or location verification or targets children or teenagers).
The Impasse
In recent weeks, the government’s effort to impose tougher restrictions on bets ran into lobbying from the industry, aimed at soccer clubs and politicians. The presidential palace, the Planalto, began weighing the political and electoral impact of the measure, even as the president grew visibly moved by the toll betting debt has taken on Brazilians.
On September 18, at a campaign event in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Lula responded to soccer clubs that had been pressuring the government to keep bets in place. “Today, soccer clubs, led by Corinthians and Flamengo, said that if bets end, soccer will end too,” Lula said. “São Paulo was world champion three times with not gambling company sponsor. Santos was world champion and had no gambling company sponsor. Flamengo was world champion and had no gambling company sponsor. My own Corinthians was world champion twice with no sponsorship from betting companies.”
“This online gambling isn’t a game, it’s a disease. This bet business is the most horrifying thing I’ve seen in my life,” Lula continued. “I want you to know that, if it’s up to me, I will put an end to these bets.”
An Atlas/Bloomberg poll released Wednesday found that 75% of Brazilians agree that online betting should be banned. According to the poll, 71% fully agree with banning bets and another 4% somewhat agree. In addition, 79% of Brazilians think advertising for online betting and bets should be restricted, and 88% disagree that online betting can be a way to supplement income.
Support for banning bets is highest among women (79%), people who identify as left-wing (85%), people with a college education (77%) and residents of the Midwest (77%).
This article first ran in Brasil de Fato, was translated, with permission, by Panamerican Dispatch, and can be read in its original Portuguese here.