President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said Brazil’s government may take a more drastic approach to online betting after hearing concerns from civil-society groups about gambling-related debt, addiction and household losses.
Lula met representatives of child-protection organisations, health research institutions, and commercial, economic and artistic sectors at the Planalto Palace in Brasília on Tuesday, 1 September. He said he could convene a further meeting soon before the government makes a final decision on the sector.
“The government has been discussing how to solve the problem of betting,” Lula said. “I suggested we listen to what Brazilian society thinks about betting before making a final decision.”
Lula said betting was “a bad thing for society” and that he personally favoured ending this type of gambling. However, he said the government must weigh the political, social and economic consequences of any decision.
The president nevertheless said Brazil may need a “more drastic decision”, arguing that previous efforts to regulate and prohibit illegal betting had not stopped its growth.
“I think we have to make the more drastic decision,” Lula said. “We tried to regulate it, we tried to prohibit it. But prohibiting 60,000 clandestine betting sites is not easy.”
Lula also criticised the prominence of gambling advertising involving celebrities and football broadcasts.
The government heard calls for a ban on betting, as well as accounts of the impact of online gambling on households, the economy and public health. One participant described the case of a father whose daughter had fallen into debt with a loan shark after losing money through online betting.
Participants also raised concerns about defaults and reduced consumer spending, while one proposal called for the creation of a dedicated secretariat to combat illegal betting.
Health minister Alexandre Padilha said demand for gambling-addiction support through Brazil’s public health system had increased sharply. According to Padilha, the government initially offered around 600 consultations per month, but the number had reached 100,000 monthly appointments. Women accounted for 55% of people seeking treatment, despite men representing a larger share of those participating in betting.
Padilha also said Brazil, Spain and Canada were leading discussions on a proposed World Health Organization resolution related to gambling.
Brazilian households recorded R$62.5bn in net losses from betting between October 2024 and March 2026. The figure represents the difference between money wagered and prizes returned, based on Pix transfers to betting operators. During the same period, betting companies reportedly handled almost R$351bn in Pix transactions.
The comments build on Lula’s increasingly hostile rhetoric towards the regulated betting sector. He said in August that online betting should end unless the industry could demonstrate a social purpose.
Betting has also become more prominent in Brazil’s 2026 presidential campaign. Opposition figures including Romeu Zema and Flávio Bolsonaro have called for tighter restrictions on the sector.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said Brazil’s government may take a more drastic approach to online betting after hearing concerns from civil-society groups about gambling-related debt, addiction and household losses. Lula met representatives of child-protection organisations, health research institutions, and commercial, economic and artistic sectors at the Planalto Palace in Brasília on Tuesday,