RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL This week, President Lula signed a measure that would temporarily ban online betting in Brasil, opening high-stakes battles against Brasil’s influential soccer clubs ahead of this month’s presidential election.
"We won't allow betting companies to profit at the expense of Brazilian families' income and lives," Lula said in a measure announcing the temporary ban.
In addition, Lula announced a program that would provide financial relief to families that have been devastated by online gambling. According to Brazilian government statistics, Brazilians lose the equivalent of $7 billion a year to online gambling, money that could otherwise go into consumer spending and the economy, but instead goes into the hands of gambling companies.
If passed, Brasil would become the first country in the world to ban online gambling.
“We cannot accept betting companies making money by destroying families,” said Lula at a campaign event today. “It is the State's role to protect the people from indebtedness and to prepare the SUS [the Brazilian national healthcare system] to care for those suffering from ludopathy—gambling addiction. Protecting the Brazilian people is my duty.”
Lula’s executive order must be approved within 120 days, or it will not take effect. With Bolsonaro’s allies controlling Congress, the measure faces very slim chances of passing.
Throughout campaign events this week, Flavio Bolsonaro warned that outlawing bets would make it difficult for Brazilian soccer clubs to stay afloat. Bolsonaro called the measure "populist, hypocritical and politically motivated."
Brazilian soccer teams, who receive over $200 million annually in advertising revenue from betting companies, have also blasted the measure in a letter widely distributed to the press this week.
"Fans cannot foot this bill,” Brasil’s major soccer teams said in a letter this week. “If the regulated market ends, betting doesn't end. Soccer is what ends."
However, 78% of Brazilians favor a ban on online betting, according to a new survey by Datfolha. The measure comes as polling shows Lula narrowly leading the race against Bolsonaro.
Despite the immense popularity of these soccer clubs, Lula, knowing that the public is on his side, has even gone on the attack against these clubs.
"In the best moments in the history of Brazilian soccer, there were no betting sites," Lula said on Monday. "The clubs will have to figure it out."
While Bolsonaro has repeatedly defended online gambling, Lula has taken to the stump this week to blast online gambling.
“Either we put an end to this, or it will end Brasil,” Lula said this week. “It’s the poor who bet, who get sick, who kill themselves because they’re in debt.”
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