Brazil bans online betting and digital casinos days ahead of presidential vote

Executive decree and shutdown timetable

On 25 September 2026, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a provisional executive order prohibiting online sports betting platforms and digital casinos across the country. The decree took effect immediately, halting all new user deposits and banning betting advertising and intermediation. Platforms will stay open until 23:59 on 5 October to permit users to withdraw their remaining account balances. On 6 October, all betting websites and mobile applications will be forced offline, and existing sponsorship contracts will become void. The measure now moves to the National Congress, which has 120 days to approve the decree and convert it into permanent federal law. In addition, the administration drafted urgent legislation to establish criminal offenses in the penal code for operating or promoting illegal betting.

It is no longer possible to deposit money into betting sites in the country.

Public health concerns and economic costs

The federal government justified the prohibition as a public health emergency driven by widespread household indebtedness and gambling addiction. According to Finance Minister Dario Durigan, more than 60 billion reais (about $11 billion) had flowed from families to licensed betting operators. The Central Bank of Brazil estimated in 2025 that citizens were spending roughly 30 billion reais ($5.7 billion) monthly on betting platforms. A 2025 study by the Institute of Studies for Health Policies found that betting and gambling cost Brazilian society 38.8 billion reais ($7 billion) annually while driving increases in depression and suicide rates. Data published in August 2026 by the National Confederation of Commerce revealed that eight out of ten Brazilian families were carrying debt. To assist indebted households, the government announced an expansion of its debt renegotiation program to restructure existing loans and promote financial recovery.

I made the decision to take a hard, drastic and necessary measure. It is like cancer, you take out the tumor, or the tumor will kill us.

Sports industry fallout and corporate reaction

The ban directly affects 85 authorized operating companies representing more than 180 brands, which paid non-refundable licensing fees of 30 million reais ($5.7 million) each following federal regulation in 2023. The decision also alters football financing across Brazil, where 13 of the 20 clubs in the first division rely on online betting companies as their primary shirt sponsors. Prominent football figures, including Neymar and Vinicius Junior, have served as leading advertising faces for the sector. Sports organizations expressed strong concern regarding the financial disruption to youth development, women's football, and Olympic disciplines. Betting industry associations also argued that the prohibition would not protect society, warning that users will instead migrate to unregulated clandestine platforms.

Brazil spent years debating how to regulate sports betting. One cannot establish a rule, induce companies and institutions to make commitments based on it, and then, overnight, overhaul the entire regulatory framework.

Political clash ahead of the presidential vote

The executive order arrived nine days before the first round of Brazil's presidential election on 4 October 2026, where opinion polls show Lula tied with Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Online betting was initially authorized in 2018 under President Michel Temer and operated without federal taxation or oversight during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro before being regulated under Lula in 2023. Flávio Bolsonaro criticized the timing of the prohibition, describing the executive order as electoral fraud and pledging to preserve sports betting while banning online casinos and Fortune Tiger games if elected. The government planned an automated reimbursement phase between 9 October and 14 October, transferring remaining balances directly through the banking network using individual tax identification numbers.