Flávio Bolsonaro says he would keep sports betting and ban online casinos if elected in Brazil

Flávio Bolsonaro, the PL candidate for Brazil’s presidency, said on Friday, 25, that if he wins office he would prohibit online gambling, including cassino online and jogo do tigrinho. For high-risk payment providers, the important bit is the split he drew: sports betting would remain permitted, while online casino-style products would be pushed out.

1. Bolsonaro said Brazil is facing an “epidemic of debt” caused by online games and argued that the regulatory changes under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) opened the door to online casino activity. In his words, “Vai estar proibido o jogo do tigrinho e vai estar proibido o cassino online.”
2. He also said he opposes “any type of betting,” but made a distinction for football-related wagers, saying Brazilians have long been able to bet on real sports events in Brazil. His position, as stated, is to keep that channel open while banning other forms of online gambling.
3. The comments matter because they point to a policy line that would preserve sports-betting payments flow but could hit casino and game-of-chance merchant traffic. For PSPs and acquirers, that is not a semantic distinction: the permitted and prohibited buckets are different risk profiles, different MID behavior, and different compliance work.
4. Bolsonaro made the remarks while attending the graduation ceremony of 497 new soldiers of the Rio de Janeiro Military Police (PMERJ) at the Centro de Formação e Aperfeiçoamento de Praças (CFAP) in Sulacap, in Rio’s West Zone. He also said a future government would coordinate security forces and “declare war” on drug traffickers.
5. The article also notes that Bolsonaro said a recent flight on an aircraft linked to Vorcaro had nothing to do with Vorcaro, and that he was invited by Willer, whom he described as the aircraft’s owner. That clarification is unrelated to payments, but it is part of the political backdrop around his public comments.