Lula says Brazil’s betting ban will remain in place
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has ruled out a return of betting, saying the country must “end this plague” three days before the October 25 presidential runoff. Lula made the remarks during a livestream with federal deputy André Janones and personal-finance influencer Nath Finanças.…
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has ruled out a return of betting, saying the country must “end this plague” three days before the October 25 presidential runoff. Lula made the remarks during a livestream with federal deputy André Janones and personal-finance influencer Nath Finanças. Lula stated that he took action after talking to youngsters who were in debt due to gambling from R$ 4,000 to R$ 24,000. He also mentioned news of people who committed suicide after losing money from gambling. There was a report by Brasil de Fato saying betting operators could restart operations on October 26. He mentioned that upon being elected, he would set up a secretariat of popular finance and suggested Nath Finanças for the position. A Datafolha poll published on the same day revealed Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro tied at 50% regarding the number of valid votes collected. Reports stating that gambling could again resume on 26 October if Bolsonaro manages to win the election are available, but they remain unconfirmed because of anonymous sources. To get the legal betting sector back on track, there needs to be a court decision or new action by the Government. Supreme Federal Court Justice Luiz Fux, in charge of describing challenges against the measure, has not made any decisions until today, October 23. Furthermore, the measures need to be approved by Congress for the ban to be considered permanent. As for today, October 21, the committee that needs to review the measure has not yet been set. Lawmakers submitted 94 amendments that are still on the table. The measure enters the urgent procedure on November 9, while the discussions need to be finalized by November 23. Recently report shows that Brazilian Receita Federal managed to collect R$11.12 billion (around $2.21 billion) as of September 2026 in gambling and betting taxes, which is more than the R$9.95 billion that has been collected altogether in 2025. The numbers reflect the entire gambling and betting revenue, not limited only to the fixed-odds betting.