Lula Bans Fixed-Odds Betting in Brazil Days Before Presidential Vote

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a provisional executive order on Friday banning fixed-odds betting, just over a week before the first round of the presidential election. The measure, which he said was aimed at addressing the widespread problem of families falling into debt, takes effect immediately but requires congressional approval within 120 days to remain in force.

The order halts the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of betting. It bars new deposits into betting accounts and gives platform users until Oct. 5 to withdraw their funds. Lula's government has also prepared a bill that would create criminal offenses related to fixed-odds betting — the most common form of online sports betting — including promoting such platforms and using personal data to solicit bettors.

"I made the decision to take a hard, drastic and necessary measure," Lula told journalists in Sao Paulo. "It's like cancer, you take out the tumor, or the tumor will kill us."

The president had already criticized the betting industry earlier in the week at the United Nations General Assembly, accusing it of "transforming addiction into profit" and of "destroying homes." He has spoken out against online betting at least since April, when he called for a ban. Pressure grew during the FIFA World Cup, when advertisements were ubiquitous and the number of people betting surged.

Polls indicate broad public support for a ban among Brazilians. Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula's main rival in the upcoming election, described the move as an "electoral measure."

The financial stakes are considerable. A 2025 study by the nonprofit Institute of Studies for Health Policies estimated that betting and gambling cost Brazilian society 38.8 billion reais ($7 billion) annually and contribute to suicide and depression. The country's central bank estimated last year that Brazilians spend about 30 billion reais ($5.7 billion) on bets each month, a figure that included spending by beneficiaries of the federal cash-transfer welfare program Bolsa Familia, which was blocked from those platforms last year. Business analysts estimate revenues for sports betting, one of the models banned on Friday, at more than $4 billion per year in Brazil, one of the world's largest markets.

Gambling is illegal in Brazil, but the country opened the door to online betting in 2018 during the presidency of Michel Temer. The phenomenon expanded under former President Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio Bolsonaro's father. In December 2023, Lula signed a law to regulate and tax betting companies for the first time. Months later, his administration blocked more than 2,000 online betting websites deemed irregular, including some linked to criminal organizations such as the First Command of the Capital from Sao Paulo and the Red Command of Rio de Janeiro, as part of a national push to regulate the sector.

Lawmakers, including many from Flávio Bolsonaro's Liberal Party, struck down a Lula order for tax hikes on online betting and virtual casinos in October last year.

Ahead of Friday's move, Brazil's main soccer clubs raised concerns after betting companies reportedly warned that sponsorships would end immediately if the government banned betting. The clubs said the move could mean "the end of Brazilian soccer," a claim mocked by some social media users in the soccer-mad country.