Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the right-wing PL party, a presidential candidate and the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, said on Friday (Sept. 25) that he supports banning online casinos, but left open the future of sports betting sites, known in Brazil as bets. He called President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's decision to prohibit electronic gambling days before the election "populist, hypocritical and electioneering".
He spoke to journalists after a military police graduation ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, according to Folha de S.Paulo. "President Lula is desperate. He did nothing for four years and, on the eve of the election, he wants to pretend he was not the one who approved and regulated the online casino on the hands of Brazilians," the senator said. He added: "Lula is the father of the tigrinho. Lula has two children who did great harm to Brazil: Lulinha and the tigrinho." Folha also reported that he praised a friend who is a target of a Federal Police investigation.
By the candidate's account, regulation under the current government "more than quadrupled" the number of bettors. "Nobody guarantees that, after the election, he will not free it all up again," he said. In his view, Lula "is betting everything on the elections" and, seeing that gambling "became an epidemic in Brazil, is trying to cozy up to voters".
The package against the bets
Lula's government regulated online betting at the end of 2023. The president sanctioned Law 14.790 in December of that year, covering fixed-odds betting already authorized by a 2018 law passed under President Michel Temer. The rules set licensing and tax requirements and created rules against money laundering, match-fixing and problem gambling, BBC News Brasil reported.
On Friday, Lula was set to announce in São Paulo a package of economic measures expected to include a provisional decree to ban bets and online casinos such as the tigrinho, a casino-style game, according to the BBC. At a campaign event in Recife, the president pressed his criticism of the industry: "It is not right to spend what you do not have to try to win what does not exist." According to G1, the government is split between a total ban on betting and narrower steps, such as blocking advertising and outlawing virtual casinos.
Flávio's distinction
Flávio argues for separating bets on real events from electronic games. "I have always been against gambling. A very clear distinction has to be made. One thing is to allow, as has been allowed for decades, Brazilians to bet on games that are real. A football match... Even then there are questions. I am against it, but that is what has always been in force. What the Lula government allowed was the legalization of the tigrinho game," the senator said.
In an online broadcast this week with Tarcísio de Freitas and Ricardo Nunes, he summed up his position: "The online casino has to end." According to the BBC, the candidate considers that bets on real football, volleyball or tennis matches can be controlled.
A provisional decree takes effect immediately once published, and Congress must approve it within 120 days or it loses force. The first round of the presidential election is on Oct. 4. Polls cited by the BBC show Flávio and Lula in a technical tie.