Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he would shut down online betting if the decision rested with him alone. In a Sunday broadcast he described meeting eight people harmed by betting and cited a player who made 1,400 Pix transfers to a bookmaker account in three months. Lula blamed the Central Bank for failing to flag the volume.
Monitoring responsibility lies with the Secretariat for Prizes and Betting, not the Central Bank. Operators submit detailed daily reports on player transactions, and a dedicated module in the betting management system tracks repeated transfers. The president also mentioned a woman whose 26-year-old son died by suicide over betting debts, and a player who accumulated R$2m ($388,410) in debt over three months.
Lula has not acknowledged the budget's dependence on the sector. Sports betting brought in R$8.747bn over seven months of 2025. The Federal Revenue Service projects R$16bn by year-end; 2025 saw nearly R$9bn collected.
Where the revenue would come from if the industry is closed remains unanswered. Players would move to the illegal market — betting would continue without tax, oversight or user protection. The task facing authorities is to suppress the illegal segment so the regulated sector keeps generating tax and jobs while enforcing responsible gambling. Rhetoric against bookmakers distracts from the real drivers of household debt.
