Brazil backs payment-blocking crackdown on illegal betting as 25.2 million Brazilians are said to use unlicensed sites

The Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR) and the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) have backed the federal government’s move to hit illegal betting by cutting off payment rails. For regulated operators and their PSPs, the key point is obvious: Brazil is now pushing enforcement not just at the operator level, but at the financial and advertising infrastructure around it.

1. On Friday, President Lula signed a decree adopting a series of measures to combat illegal betting and strengthen the regulated market in Brazil. The ANJL said the measures are another step toward protecting the regulated market and come out of ongoing institutional cooperation between the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), representatives of the regulated sector and other actors involved in sector regulation.
2. At a press conference, justice minister Wellington César Lima said 25.2 million Brazilians bet on illegal websites. Plínio Lemos Jorge, president of the ANJL, said that number shows the scale of the challenge and supports the case for stronger inspection measures.
3. Lemos Jorge said the illegal betting industry exposes consumers to risks, evades taxes and creates unfair competition for companies that comply with Brazilian regulatory requirements. He added that the announced actions are intended to strengthen the regulated market and reflect an environment of dialogue and institutional cooperation that helped authorities gather information, develop tools and improve their understanding of illegal operators in the country.
4. The ANJL said the SPA has played a central role in consolidating sector regulation and building mechanisms that make state action against clandestine operators more efficient. It also said the new decree strengthens the state’s ability to target not only illegal operators, but also the structures that support their distribution and financial backing.
5. The IBJR said it supports the federal government and the ministries of finance and justice on Decree No 13,033/2026 and Ordinance No 1,766/2026. Those rules govern the blocking of funds from illegal betting operations and the joint liability of financial institutions, payment companies and advertisers for tax collection tied to the irregular operation of fixed-odds betting.

For PSPs, acquiring banks and payment institutions, the practical read-through is simple: Brazil is formalising liability around the money flow, not just the betting operator. Once a regulator starts naming financial institutions, payment companies and advertisers in the same sentence, the compliance file gets a lot more interesting.