Lula bans online gambling ahead of Brazil’s presidential election

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced a ban on online gambling, just days before the election in which he is seeking a fourth term as the country’s leader. Lula, who is running against the son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, signed a provisional order on Friday “banning all sports betting and online casinos.”

The online gambling industry in Brazil was legalized in 2018 and has since been blamed for widespread losses of family income due to addiction. In his announcement, Lula described the industry as a “cancer,” adding: “Either we remove the tumor, or it kills us.”

The move comes just over a week before the first round of voting in Brazil’s presidential election. Recent polls show the 80-year-old leader nearly neck and neck with Flavio Bolsonaro.

The new measures must be approved by Congress within 120 days to remain in force. Lula acknowledged that online betting was created under former President Michel Temer, but said it “grew without regulation under Bolsonaro’s management.”

“We will not allow betting companies to profit at the expense of the income and lives of Brazilian families,” the president added. He described hearing from families who had sold everything in their homes because of gambling addiction.