The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) once again criticized betting during a speech at an event on the Minha Casa, Minha Vida program, in the city of Rio Grande, in Rio Grande do Sul. Lula held former president Jair Bolsonaro responsible for the expansion of the online betting sector, which, according to him, took the “casino into homes” and encouraged gambling via cell phones.
Lula’s criticisms of previous governments were made during his speech about 2026, which, according to the president, will be the “year of comparison” between his administration and those of Michel Temer (MDB) and Jair Bolsonaro.
The president also stated that he intends to regulate the betting sector in the country. The declaration comes amid pressure from allies and members of the government to increase the tax burden and control over the betting market in Brazil.
“We, for a long time, were against gambling. I remember that gambling is still a crime to this day. It is still a crime today, but everyone gambles. And we were always against the casino, on the grounds that the casino is gambling. What happened in the last government? They brought a casino into the house, for our children to use on our phones and gamble all day long and we don’t see anything else on television other than gambling with these bets”, he said. Lula.
“In other words, we banned people from playing at the casino and the casino came into our homes. We will have to regulate these things”, continued the president.
The betting market was regulated in Brazil in 2023, through Law No. 14,790/2023, after the Bolsonaro government postponed the regulation provided for in Law No. 13,756/2018, approved and sanctioned during the Temer government, in December 2018. In January 2025, the regulated betting market began operations, after a period of adaptation to the new rules presented by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets from the Ministry of Finance (SPA-MF) in 2024.
In addition to criticizing the Temer and Bolsonaro governments, Lula also commented on the volume of betting advertising on television. “We don’t see anything else on television other than gambling with these bets,” said Lula.
Last week, Lula declared that betting is “taking over football, advertising and is taking over corruption in Brazil”. Despite the criticism, Lula did not cite any examples of corrupt betting sites.
Fonte: Gaming365 – Brasil
