Brazil's Lula bans online betting 'like a cancer' just nine days before presidential election

From the Newshound archive · first published 26 September 2026 · last updated 27 September 2026.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has issued an emergency executive order with immediate effect, outlawing fixed-odds sports betting and describing the industry as destroying families. The order shuts down all operations, advertising and new deposits on betting platforms, with sites going dark on 6 October. It must clear Congress within 120 days or lapse, and Lula has thrown his weight behind a separate bill that would create criminal offences targeting promoters and data-harvesters.

Rival Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, neck-and-neck with Lula in polls, called the ban a cynical 'electoral measure'.

Gambling drains an estimated 38.8 billion reais ($7.7 billion) a year from Brazil's public health system, and has been linked to rising suicide rates and depression.

Football giant Flamengo called it a 'heavy blow to Brazilian sports', warning youth academies and women's football face financial ruin.