Brazilian presidential candidate Romeu Zema said he would seek to stop fixed-odds betting platforms from operating if elected, making it his first action in office. He said he would use a presidential decree, while leaving support measures for people facing betting-related financial problems for later consideration.
The proposal signals a possible ban on licensed betting platforms if Zema wins the presidency.
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Brazilian presidential candidate Romeu Zema again backed banning fixed-odds betting and said a prohibition would be his first act if elected. Psychologist Rafael Ávila said comparing gambling directly with cocaine addiction oversimplifies distinct clinical conditions and risks increasing stigma.
Presidential candidate Renan Santos said he would prohibit betting houses in Brazil if elected. He said the legalised betting market generated R$12.2bn in four months.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he would close online betting platforms if the decision were his, according to the report. He said the government was discussing the issue, while the report said it was seeking to raise taxes on platform income to 12%.
ABRAS president João Carlos Galassi argued at a Supreme Court hearing on 3 November for retaining MP 1.394/2026, which prohibits fixed-odds betting. The article says the sales increases he cited do not establish that the betting ban caused higher supermarket sales, and challenges his projection of R$ 50 billion in lost food consumption.
João Carlos Galassi, president of the Brazilian supermarket association ABRAS, told a Supreme Court public hearing on 3 November that the court should keep in force MP 1.394/2026, the provisional measure that banned fixed-odds betting in Brazil. The hearing was held by minister Luiz Fux, rapporteur of ADI 8027, and Galassi opened by thanking president Lula for the "decisão corajosa" of issuing the measure.
Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro reportedly phoned Flamengo president Luiz Eduardo Baptista a day after the government published a provisional measure banning bets. The senator indicated he would seek a solution for football clubs and betting houses if elected, without committing to restoring operators' authorisation.
Flávio Bolsonaro, the PL presidential candidate, telephoned Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, the president of Flamengo, one day after the Lula government published a provisional measure banning bets in Brazil, citing a report based on three people linked to football and to the Bolsonaro campaign who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to those accounts, the senator indicated that, if elected, he would find a solution for football clubs and betting houses, but did not commit to restoring the authorisation for betting companies to operate again.