Brazilian Finance Minister Dario Durigan said President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would prefer online betting platforms not to exist. Durigan said the government is pursuing tighter regulation rather than a general ban, arguing that a legal market can help prevent growth in illegal betting.
Tighter controls, rather than a general ban, would shape the conditions under which betting operators can serve Brazil.
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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in an interview that he would close betting operators if the decision were his, while noting that the matter depends on Congress. He also raised tighter regulation as an alternative and criticised claims that football depends on betting sponsorship; the source reports no government proposal to close the sector.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on 8 April that he wanted betting operators to close, while acknowledging that the measure would require discussion and approval by the National Congress. He said he had been discussing online betting with aides for about two weeks and also raised the option of tighter regulation.
Brazil's government announced a timetable following its measure to prohibit fixed-odds betting, with new deposits barred from publication and platforms due to go offline on 6 October. Users could withdraw balances until 5 October; banks were to return remaining funds from 9 to 14 October, with Caixa Econômica Federal handling cases where repayment was impeded.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he would close online betting platforms if the decision were his, according to the report. He said the government was discussing the issue, while the report said it was seeking to raise taxes on platform income to 12%.
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the ban on betting operations in the country's national territory is an irreversible decision. The report did not give further details of the measure or its scope.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called the ban on betting operations within the national territory an irreversible decision. The provisional measure behind the ban must still go through a further stage.