Lula’s order, signed Friday, prohibits the operation, intermediation and advertising of fixed‑odds betting and bars new deposits into betting accounts. Users of the platforms have until Oct. 5 to withdraw their money before the ban takes full effect.
The executive decree follows the 2018 opening of online betting and the 2023 law that first regulated the sector. Earlier this year, the administration shut down more than 2,000 sites linked to criminal groups, and the central bank reports that Brazilians spend about 30 billion reais ($5.7 billion) monthly on bets.
Opposition co‑leader Flavio Bolsonaro called the move an electoral tactic, while the country’s biggest football clubs warned that sponsorship deals could evaporate. In São Paulo, a single mother who had spent 1.2 million reais in debt on a betting app now says the ban may help her family rebuild.
Congress must approve the order within 120 days to keep it in force; failure to do so will roll back the ban, leaving the sector to resume operations. The vote is scheduled for early September, and lawmakers face pressure from both gambling lobbyists and the public, who cite the 38.8 billion‑reais annual social cost of addiction.