Lula reportedly orders betting agencies to close under Brazil decree

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reportedly plans to repeal the country's 2024 betting law and has issued an emergency presidential decree requiring betting agencies to close by 25 October, according to a report. The decree reportedly set 5 October as the deadline for players to complete withdrawals from their accounts. The measure's future is not settled: it depends on Congress, and Supreme Court judge Luiz Fux could annul the provisional measure, the report said.

Lula was re-elected with 51.79% of the vote against 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro, the report said, making him the first candidate since 1985 to overturn a first-round result in the second round. The report said the announcement came nine days after the first round of voting on 4 October. The 2024 law had opened the regulated market from 1 January 2025.

In the recent parliamentary elections the Liberal Party increased its presence to 121 deputies and 29 senators, according to the report. It said positions favouring regulation and the business sector are more widespread in Congress than in the federal government, so rejection or amendment of the measure by lawmakers remains a possibility.

Consultancy Regulus Partners said a favourable Supreme Court decision would not automatically restore revoked licences, but would stop the ban at the outset and allow a new regulatory framework to be drawn up, the report said. If the ban holds, the report said, a stalemate would open with a complex and prolonged legal battle. It also cited possible compensation actions brought by Lula's allies on behalf of players for losses incurred.

The report said many analysts expect a possible future reopening limited to sports betting, with a definitive ban on online casinos, which it said are considered socially more dangerous because of the high rate of addiction they generate. It said international operators including Flutter Entertainment, Kaizen Gaming, Super Technologies, Entain and bet365, which had invested and hired staff in Brazil over the past two years, now face uncertainty.

According to the report, whether Lula will hold a hard line or allow pragmatism is still unclear. The report noted that in 2025 his government already took a political hit when it sought to double taxes on gambling and failed to secure Parliament's backing. A full prohibition, the report said, would carry the risk of multi-million disputes and would set the government against key economic sectors that gain from sponsorship, such as football, media and technology.