Flamengo ends protest against Brazil’s ban on bets during Copa Libertadores semifinal

Flamengo will stop using its shirt space to protest Brazil’s ban on betting operators and will switch the master sponsor position to Flamengo TV for Thursday’s (15/10) Copa Libertadores semifinal against Estudiantes in La Plata. For PSPs and betting operators watching Brazil, the point is simple: the dispute has moved from a jersey message to a political negotiation.

1. In Flamengo’s last two matches in the Brasileirão, the club displayed the phrase “Proibir não é proteger” (“To prohibit is not to protect”) on the chest of the shirt, in reference to a Federal Government Provisional Measure that banned betting operators from operating in the country.
2. For the match in Argentina, that same master sponsor space will carry Flamengo TV, the club’s official YouTube channel, which is used for live match broadcasts, training sessions, and institutional programming.
3. The protest took place in the matches against Santos and Fluminense. In the derby against Fluminense, Flamengo coordinated the action with the rival club, and three banners with the same message were displayed by Flamengo fans in the stands.
4. At the same time, there is growing behind-the-scenes movement to resolve the conflict between clubs and the Federal Government over the betting ban. Eduardo Bandeira de Mello, a deputy and former Flamengo president, has been approached by football executives and government interlocutors to help find a way out of the deadlock.
5. Bandeira de Mello’s background in football management, his ties across club leadership, and his career at BNDES are cited as reasons he is seen as a useful mediator. He attended a meeting in Niterói on Wednesday (14/10), where he briefly spoke with Vice President Geraldo Alckmin.

Beyond the shirt politics, this is the part high-risk operators should track: the dispute is not just about club sponsorship inventory, but about whether the government’s prohibition on bets can be softened through political mediation rather than a clean regulatory reversal.