Key Takeaways
- During an International Women’s Day speech, President Lula advocated for prohibiting online betting platforms
- Gambling sector executives labeled the statements “disrespectful” and cautioned about illegal market expansion
- The same administration established gambling regulations in December 2023, with operations beginning January 2025
- Legal analysts indicate prohibition would demand fresh legislation and substantial parliamentary backing
- Women in Gaming organization condemned the timing and content of Lula’s statements
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has triggered strong opposition from the legitimate gambling sector following his public appeal to prohibit online wagering nationwide.
The president delivered these statements in a broadcast speech on Sunday, March 8, commemorating International Women’s Day. He characterized betting addiction as a “tragedy” and emphasized that families, especially women, bear the economic consequences.
“It’s the money for food, rent and children’s school that disappears on the cell phone screen,” Lula said.
He urged government bodies, legislative representatives, and the court system to collaborate in preventing what he termed “digital casinos” from devastating households.
The statements immediately provoked condemnation from sector representatives and legal professionals, who highlighted the irony that Lula’s administration was responsible for establishing gambling regulations initially.
The nation’s digital gambling sector received regulatory framework through Law No. 14,790/2023, enacted under Lula’s leadership in December 2023. Licensed operations commenced on January 1, 2025, featuring safeguards for participants and a nationwide exclusion program.
Ramiro Atucha, founder and CEO of Atucha Strategic Advisory, informed iGB the statements were “disrespectful” toward investors and risked undermining market credibility.
He cautioned that prohibition would merely drive customers to unlicensed platforms. “All the problems they are listing are to do with unregulated operators, not with regulated operators,” Atucha said.
Sector Voices Concern Over Illegal Market Growth
Udo Seckelmann, Partner for Gambling at Bichara e Motta Advogados, indicated Lula demonstrated a “misunderstanding” regarding sector operations.
He emphasized that international and unauthorized platforms had operated in Brazil for years preceding regulatory implementation. “Prohibition would not eliminate the market — it would simply push it back into the shadows,” Seckelmann said.
Both Atucha and Seckelmann expressed skepticism that prohibition would materialize. Seckelmann explained that dismantling the existing framework would necessitate a fresh legislative procedure and extensive political consensus, “which currently seems unlikely.”
Atucha noted that halting revenue collection and confronting legal challenges would establish a harmful precedent for prospective investors in Brazil.
Women’s Gaming Group Denounces Statement Context
The Association of Women in the Gaming Industry (AMIG) expressed the remarks generated “surprise and concern,” and condemned Lula’s seeming dismissal of female professionals employed in the gambling industry.
AMIG stated that leveraging International Women’s Day to propose actions potentially damaging women workers in the sector was “not acceptable under any circumstances.”
This marks not the first instance of Lula’s administration challenging the sector it established. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad announced in July of the previous year that he would support prohibition if legislation were introduced.
The administration additionally sought to elevate the operator levy from 12% to 18% for budget deficit reduction, though this initiative was unsuccessful. A more modest incremental tax adjustment passed in late 2025, with percentages climbing to 15% starting in 2028.
The gambling oversight body, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets, operates under Haddad’s Ministry of Finance.
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