Flamengo fans jeer Lula after Maracanã match as clubs protest Brazil’s betting ban

Flamengo supporters taunted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after the club’s 1-0 win over Fluminense at Maracanã on Sunday, 11 October, in a match already crowded with anti-government and anti-ban messaging. For high-risk operators, the important bit is simple: Brazil’s betting clampdown is no longer just a policy file, it is now showing up on shirts, banners, and in the stadium stands.

1. Fans were filmed on the stadium access ramps chanting, “Ei, Lula, vai tomar no c*,” after Flamengo’s victory in Rio de Janeiro. The video circulating on social media showed the group leaving Maracanã after the final whistle.
2. Before kick-off, Flamengo supporters in the North Stand displayed a banner attacking the federal government, Congress, and the Supreme Federal Court (STF) over the ban on sports betting. The message read: “O futebol brasileiro não pode ser vítima desse gol contra. Lula, Congresso e STF.”
3. The protest was a response to Provisional Measure 1.394 of 2026, signed by Lula on 25 September. The measure banned the operation, offering, intermediation, and advertising of fixed-odds betting in Brazil, with platforms expected to shut down from 6 October after a transition period.
4. Clubs and companies in the sector have pushed back, arguing the move will hit Brazilian football financially because betting brands support the game through sponsorship contracts. Their other point is the familiar one: if regulated operators are squeezed out, illegal platforms get more room to breathe.
5. Another banner throughout the match linked Lula to the end of the 6 x 1 work shift pattern, one of the PT’s campaign themes. It also carried a football-specific jab: “6 X 1? Só neles! Pelo fim da escala 6 X 1,” a reference to Vasco’s 6-1 loss to Flamengo on 2 June 2024, Flamengo’s biggest win in the derby.

There was also a direct commercial angle on the pitch. Flamengo and Fluminense players entered wearing “Proibir não é proteger” across the chest, in the place normally reserved for their main sponsors, Betano and Superbet. Flamengo had already used the same slogan on Thursday, 8 October, against Santos. Separately, Flamengo was accepted as amicus curiae in Supreme Federal Court cases dealing with the betting ban, by decision of Justice Luiz Fux, which gives the club a formal voice in the proceedings.