Lula increasingly critical of the gambling industry as election looms in Brazil
Lula increasingly critical of the gambling industry as election looms in Brazil
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has come out once again against gambling in Brazil. Speaking the day before International Women’s Day, during a national address on TV and radio Lula said that he would work with Congress and the Judiciary.
“Although most addicts are men, the burden falls on women. It’s the money for food, rent, and children’s school that disappears on the cell phone screen,” he stated.
“It makes no sense to allow the ‘Little Tiger Game’ (an illegal online casino game) to enter homes, indebting families through their cell phones. We will work together with the government, Congress, and the Judiciary to ensure that these digital casinos do not continue to indebt families and destroy homes,” he said.
Lula has become increasingly critical of online gambling this year overall blaming the previous administration for bringing casinos into Brazilian homes and taking over football. With Lula’s increasingly critical stance it would seem that gambling could well be a hot button topic in this year’s election.
Lula will need to be able to work in close coordination with lawmakers to improve actions against illegal unlicenced gambling such as the Little Tiger Game which has been tied to fraud and money laundering for years.
However his stance on gambling came under criticism last month when the leader of the Liberal Party in the Chamber of Deputies, Sóstenes Cavalcante pointed out that the regulation of sports betting occurred through a decree signed by the president himself in 2023, after strong government action in Congress.
“Who signed (the bill) to legalize betting in Brazil was Lula. He signed to legalize it, and now he wants to say he will solve the problem. I hope that, despite his hypocrisy, he truly resolves it, through a provisional measure, and cancels bets immediately in Brazil,” he stated.
