José Guimarães, the newly appointed Minister of Institutional Relations, acknowledged on Thursday the significant challenges facing attempts to ban sports betting and online gambling in Brazil. Guimarães, who recently took over the ministry, pointed out the strong resistance in Parliament against measures aimed at ending gambling. He observed, "What I sense in Congress is that the lawmakers are willing to regulate, but they want to put an end to betting… We must take the balance of power into account."
Given his background as the former leader of President Lula’s government in the Chamber of Deputies, Guimarães is familiar with the attitudes of deputies and doubts that a ban on sports betting and online gambling will succeed. He believes Congress is open to improving regulations but not to eliminating gambling, which contributed nearly BRL 10 billion ($2 billion) in tax revenues to the government in 2025 alone.
Despite acknowledging that gambling may contribute to increased debt among Brazilian families, Guimarães did not indicate any specific measures the economic team or the Chief of Staff’s Office might propose to address the issue. The Chief of Staff’s Office is currently working on a presidential decree outlining proposals against gambling, such as barring individuals enrolled in a debt refinancing program from placing bets and tightening advertising restrictions for bookmakers.
President Lula has consistently voiced his views during campaign speeches, attributing household debt issues to gambling while promising to abolish it if re-elected. His administration has deployed a task force in the Chamber of Deputies to advance this agenda, leading to the introduction of bill No. 1,808 this week, which seeks to outlaw sports betting and online gambling nationwide. Notably, 65 of the 68 lawmakers supporting the bill are from Lula’s Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) or Workers' Party.
However, the proposed measure faces challenges even from within the government, particularly from the economic team, which considers gambling a vital source of revenue amid ongoing public account deficits. Additionally, the Ministries of Sport and Justice and Public Security are concerned about the potential loss of tax revenue generated by gambling activities.
Criticism of the gambling sector will likely persist until Brazil’s presidential elections on October 4, as Lula and his main rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, both aim to appeal to evangelical voters, who comprise about one-third of the electorate, by opposing gambling in their campaigns.
