SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he favors a national ban on online betting platforms, whose revenues in the South American nation are estimated at more than $4 billion per year, one of the biggest markets in the world.
The 80-year-old Lula, who is running for reelection in October, said online gambling has caused “a massive tragedy” for millions of families who have seen household debt soar.
“If it is up to me, we close them,” Lula said in an interview to website ICL Noticias. "I am deeply worried about the indebtedness of the Brazilian people. If these platforms cause harm, why don’t we end them? We are discussing this very seriously.“
The Brazilian president added that any move would require approval of lawmakers, many of which allies of betting companies.
Sports betting was made legal in Brazil in 2018 in a bill signed by then President Michel Temer. Lula's left-leaning administration introduced regulations to betting companies in 2025 after blocking several of them the year before.
Now, it seeks to impose higher tariffs to these companies from the current 12% of their income.
Betting companies have advocated for regulations aiming at a more reliable market, but argued any tax increases could make local companies struggle to settle in Brazil as offshore sites would continue to tap into the Brazilian market without paying for licenses, among other requirements.
Figures published in March by a Brazilian commerce and services confederation show more than 80% of the country's families have some debt to address, the highest figure since 2010. Market analysts have credited some of those figures to the country's booming online betting industry.
Many Brazilian religious groups and social activists regularly have criticized betting companies for their role, as gambling in any other form is not legal in Brazil. Betting companies sponsor almost every one of the country's popular soccer clubs in the first and second divisions.
Current and former soccer players, including Vinícius Júnior, Ronaldo Nazário and Roberto Rivellino, are among the poster boys for local and foreign brands.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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