Tarcísio de Freitas criticizes online gambling and says Lula “intensified” the problem in Brazil

São Paulo governor Tarcísio de Freitas said he is against all forms of gambling and accused the federal government of making Brazil’s sports betting problem worse after legalizing and regulating it in 2023. For PSPs and operators, the useful part is simple: Brazil’s betting regime remains politically sensitive, and the rhetoric from major political figures is now openly tied to tax collection, consumer losses, and public-health language.

1. Speaking during an event in the east zone of São Paulo city on Wednesday (30/9), Tarcísio said he is against all kinds of online games, including sports prediction betting, online casinos, and apps such as Tigrinho.He said these products had been treated as a misdemeanor until 2023, when they were liberalized and regulated by the Lula government.
2. Tarcísio said the move was driven by revenue collection and did not take into account the impact on Brazilian families.“I, by principle, am against gambling. I think gambling sells an illusion and people sometimes look for it out of desperation, thinking they will get an increase in income and that increase in income will not come. It will not come. This problem was intensified under this government,” he said.
3. He also called President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s decision to ban bets “clearly election-driven and made without assessing the consequences.”In Tarcísio’s view, the federal government’s logic is contradictory: it sought to raise money from gambling, but at the same time took money away from families and retail.
4. “It is a logic that doesn’t really make sense because you collect on one side, and you have to collect because the government spends too much, otherwise there would be no such need, and on the other side, you are taking that money away from retail. You are taking that money away from families. So this is very bad and we really have to treat this as a serious public-health issue,” he said.
5. Outside the gambling issue, Tarcísio also criticized Lula for skipping the TV Globo presidential debate scheduled for Thursday (1º/10), saying the president was “running away from the clash” and had no answers on key economic issues.That matters for the sector only insofar as betting regulation in Brazil is being discussed in a broader political fight over spending, household debt, and consumer behavior.