José Guimarães, the new Minister of Institutional Relations, admitted Thursday that the prohibition of sports betting and online gambling in Brazil will be very difficult to achieve.
According to him, who has just taken over the Ministry, there is a lot of resistance in Parliament to any measure that would put an end to betting. “What I sense in Congress is that the lawmakers are willing to regulate, but they want to put an end to betting… We must take the balance of power into account,” he said.
As the former leader of President Lula’s government in the Chamber of Deputies, José Guimarães is well acquainted with the mindset of the deputies and knows that the effort to ban sports betting and online gambling is unlikely to succeed.
In his view, Congress is willing to improve regulations but not to eliminate betting, an economic activity that, in 2025 alone, contributed nearly BRL 10 billion ($2 billion) in taxes to the public coffers.
Government proposal draws criticism from lawmakers who support the industry
Guimarães admitted that gambling may be responsible for the increase in debt among Brazilian families, but he gave no indication of measures to be adopted by the economic team and the Chief of Staff’s Office, which is focused on the issue.
What is known is that the Chief of Staff’s Office is leading the drafting of a presidential decree to establish measures against gambling, such as banning betting for people who sign up to the debt refinancing program that is being developed by the government, and further restrictions on advertising by bookmakers.
President Lula has repeatedly claimed in his vote-getting speeches that gambling is to blame for household debt and that, if elected, he would put an end to it. He deployed his task force to the Chamber of Deputies to work on the proposal, and this week a bill (No. 1,808) was introduced that would ban sports betting and online gambling in Brazil. As many as 65 out of the 68 lawmakers that signed the bill are from PT (the Worker’s Party), his party.
The measure faces resistance even within the government, especially from the economic team, which sees the activity as a significant source of revenue in light of the deficit that has been growing year after year in public accounts. The Ministries of Sport and Justice and Public Security also fear the end of gambling, as both benefit from part of the taxes generated by sports betting and online gambling.
Criticism of the sector will not stop before 4 October, which is when Brazil’s presidential elections are to take place) both from Lula, who is seeking re-election, and from Flávio Bolsonaro, his main opponent. Both candidates understand that they need to win over evangelical voters, who represent about a third of the electorate. Both will continue to speak out against the activity to win these votes.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/regulation/lula-minister-acknowledges-difficulty-ending-gambling-brazil/
