In Brazil’s football cities, where betting brands have become a familiar part of the matchday landscape, the federal government has begun removing unlicensed sports-gambling sites following President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s decree banning the activity.
Authorities have taken down 506 web pages that were offering sports bets without authorisation. The Justice and Finance ministries are seeking both to cut access to platforms operating outside the rules and to stop replacement sites from emerging.
The government is also considering talks with major technology companies including Meta, Google and TikTok, with the aim of removing advertising for sports-betting operators from their platforms.
Lula signed the ban last Friday, a little over a week before an election in which he is seeking re-election. Announcing the measure, the president compared betting addiction to drug dependency and stressed the damage it can inflict on household finances.
The decision has immediately raised concern across Brazil’s top division. A number of leading clubs rely on sponsorship agreements with betting companies and have warned that a prohibition could hit their financial stability. Lula has played down those fears and is assessing potential financial support for affected teams.
The scale of the sector explains the tension around the move. In 2025, around 25 million Brazilians placed bets worth an estimated 220.6 billion reais, equivalent to about €37.37 billion. Tax income connected to the industry stood at roughly 9 billion reais.
With the legal measures now in place, Brasília is waiting to see how clubs and the wider public respond to a ban that could reshape a major source of commercial income in Brazilian football.
