Lula attacks sports betting at the UN, but Brazil’s draft decree appears set to target advertising only

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday (22) to deliver his harshest public attack yet on sports betting. But the measure now being prepared in Brasília appears far narrower: a provisional measure (MP) is expected to restrict betting ads, not ban the business itself.

1. At the UN, Lula called the betting industry “a disease” and said Brazil would not tolerate “this business model.” He added that the “billions-dollar BETs industry turns addiction into profit” and claimed its rapid spread is “indebting and destroying homes.”
2. He also said Brazil had approved “one of the most advanced laws in the world” to protect children, teenagers and women in the digital environment. That line matters because it frames the policy debate as consumer protection, while the actual regulatory tool under discussion seems to be much more limited.
3. According to Platô, Lula is expected to issue an MP after returning from the United States that will restrict betting companies’ advertising. People around the president do not expect a total ban on the activity, and there may also be a veto on online casinos.
4. The reported political calculation is straightforward. On the legal side, the government wants to avoid a wave of lawsuits from companies already authorized to operate; there are now 188 regular bets in Brazil. On the electoral side, a restriction on advertising could still play well with women and evangelical voters, where opposition to online betting has been growing because of household debt.
5. Lula also made a separate pledge in the same UN speech to “ensure fair compensation for artists, musicians and audiovisual content creators.” In context, that was read as a nod to Paula Lavigne and the 342 Artes collective, which is behind the “Block no Tigrinho” campaign pressuring artists and sponsors to cut ties with betting companies.

For PSPs and acquirers, the important detail is not Lula’s rhetoric, which was built for the UN stage. It is the gap between the rhetoric and the draft measure: Brazil appears to be heading toward tighter advertising rules, not a shutdown of a licensed betting market with 188 operators already in play.