President Lula da Silva vows to ban online casino gaming in Brazil
The Brazilian president argues that the regulation of online casino games is contradictory.
Brazil.- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said that he will seek to ban online casino games in Brazil, signalling a shakeup of the online gambling legislation that he signed at the end of December 2023. In a televised national address for International Women’s Day, Lula said the government intends to talk to deputies and senators to create legislation to prohibit online casinos specifically.
Lula blamed the impact of gambling on family finances. “A drama that affects Brazilian homes is gambling addiction,” he said. “Although most addicts are men, the burden falls on women. It’s the money for food, rent, children’s school that disappears on the cell phone screen”.
Lula said it was contradictory for land-based casinos to be banned while online games are permitted (proposed legislation to legalise land-based casinos in Brazil has been held up for years).
“Casinos are prohibited in Brazil. It makes no sense to allow ‘Tigrinho’ games to enter homes, indebting families through their cell phones,” he said in reference to a popular slot game featuring a baby tiger.
“We will work together, uniting the Government, Congress, and the Judiciary, so that digital casinos do not continue to indebt families and destroy homes,” the president added.
See also: Brazil drops proposed sports betting deposits tax
Fixed-odds online gambling in Brazil was legalised and regulated during the current administration. Initially, the legislation was only going to allow sports betting. Amendments to allow online casino gaming were added in September 2023, backed by former rapporteur Adolfo Viana of the PSDB. The Senate subsequently backed an amendment to remove them, but they ultimately made it through to the final text
Lula vetoed certain parts of the bill, including a tax exemption for prizes of up to R$ 2,112 (€450). However, he didn’t oppose the addition of igaming at the time.
The president’s turn against gambling is believed to have at least political motivation, coming ahead of Brazil’s presidential elections scheduled for October 2026. It’s not the first time the president has condemned the sector in recent months.
In January, Lula blamed the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro for bringing “casinos into the homes” of Brazilians. A few weeks earlier, he condemned fixed-odds betting in general, saying that “betting is taking over football, taking over advertising, taking over corruption in this country. You are seeing the work of the Central Bank, trying to make these people at least pay taxes.”
Industry reaction to Lula’s call to ban igaming
The Association of Women in the Gaming Industry (AMIG) has released a public statement criticising Lula’s remarks about the gaming and betting sector in Brazil. According to the industry association, the president’s stance demonstrates a lack of understanding of the reality of a sector that generates jobs, income and revenue for Brazil.
AMIG stressed that the sector also has strong female participation. The organisation itself currently has more than 1,400 members working in areas including technology, compliance, legal, marketing, payments, sports integrity and corporate governance. The association also emphasised the sector’s economic impact, stating that operators allocated R$ 4.5bn (€550) in resources linked to public policies and other areas last year.
