Lula issues Brazil online betting ban by provisional measure before election

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a provisional measure on Friday 25 September imposing a Brazil online betting ban, stopping operators from taking customer deposits and setting 6 October as the day every licensed site goes offline. Bettors have until 5 October to request the withdrawal of their balances, iGB reported.

Finance minister Dario Durigan announced the decision and said the steps taken by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) to regulate the market and shield indebted families had failed. He cited severe cases of gambling addiction as the reason for a total ban. Lula has argued that betting sites ruin household finances, and he has criticised football's dependence on sponsorship from the industry.

What players and operators have to do

• Deposits stop with publication of the measure.
• 5 October is the last day for bettors to request withdrawals.
• 6 October: sites and apps go offline.
• 7-8 October: operators consolidate customer balances by CPF.
• 9-14 October: refunds are paid, including balances bettors did not ask to withdraw.
• From 14 October: Caixa Econômica Federal helps with refunds if operators and their banking partners hit difficulties.

Operators must handle payments through their partner banks. Durigan said the government will maintain its mechanisms for pursuing sites that keep offering betting, and that reports can be submitted through a government website.

Operators prepare legal challenges

iGB puts the number of licensed companies at almost 90, each of which paid BRL30 million ($5.8 million) in licence fees. Lawsuits are expected, seeking the return of funds, reimbursement for investments made and compensation for lost profits. SBC News describes a market with nearly 200 authorised websites, which opened on 1 January 2025.

The federal government will also have to contend with states that have regulated sports betting through their own lotteries.

The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) said the ban would cost billions in tax revenue, eliminate thousands of jobs and drive bettors into the illegal market. The association said it was "taking appropriate measures to overturn the provisional measure by taking the matter to court", and called the decision "unprecedented in the global industry" and "aimed solely at perceived electoral gain in the race for the presidency".

The Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming said: "Shutting down this market shortly after its implementation will have significant economic and legal consequences and will undermine the progress made in formalising and controlling an activity that already existed in the country."

Alongside the measure, the government will send an urgent bill to Congress creating criminal penalties: four to six years in prison plus a fine for anyone who runs, operates or promotes sports betting, and two to four years for institutions that process betting payments.

An election nine days away

The measure lands nine days before the first round of the presidential election on 4 October. The PT government says the Bets Law helped push an estimated 1.8 million Brazilians into debt last year, hitting households that depend on welfare payments. Trade bodies dispute that. The Central Bank has pointed to rising credit card use as the main driver of household debt, without dismissing betting as a factor.

Voters have moved with the candidates. An AtlasIntel survey reported by Bloomberg and cited by GamblingNews found 75% of Brazilian voters favoured banning online betting, while 17% opposed it. In the same poll, 36% blamed Lula for the expansion of online gambling and 25% blamed former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula's main opponent, has called for online casinos to be shut down, arguing that betting on real sporting events is subject to more oversight. He has not backed a ban on all betting.

Football clubs including Corinthians, Palmeiras, São Paulo, Santos, Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, Vasco and Cruzeiro asked Lula to reconsider, warning that the loss of betting sponsorships would damage their finances. He refused, saying Brazilian football could live without the money. "If we don't fight this, the algorithms will win," Lula said at a campaign event in Rio de Janeiro. "I will have immense pleasure in putting an end to betting," he added, according to iGB.

Before the measure was published, the minister of institutional relations, José Guimarães, told JOTA that the extent of the intervention was still undecided: "What will be the extent of the intervention? Medium? Total? It's in his [Lula's] hands." He insisted the decision was not driven by the election. "He's doing it because it needs to be done," he said.

Tax revenue and the bills in Congress

The Federal Revenue Service says regulated betting firms paid R$8.7 billion (£1.2 billion) between January and July 2026. The Ministry of Finance has said 25 million Brazilians placed wagers in 2025, and the Bloomberg report cited by GamblingNews estimated that online casinos generate 70% to 80% of licensed operators' revenue. The ministry has been reluctant to support changes that could cut tax revenue.

Three bills that would replace or restrict the Bets Law are already in Congress. PL 2,972/2026 would ban fixed-odds betting outright and repeal the law. PL 4,977/2026 would prohibit betting advertising and sports sponsorship while letting existing licences expire. PL 2,470/2026 takes a narrower route, targeting high-risk online casino games and restricting advertising and sponsorship.

The provisional measure stays in force until Congress approves or rejects it. The first round is on 4 October, and a runoff follows if no candidate wins outright. Congress then decides what is left of the market.