Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a provisional order on Friday banning sports betting and online casinos, just over a week before the first round of the presidential election. Congress has 120 days to approve it for the ban to remain in force.
Lula said online betting had grown without regulation under Jair Bolsonaro and that there were no specific restrictions to prevent children and adolescents from accessing it. Legalized in Brazil in 2018, online betting has been blamed for household income losses linked to addiction. An Atlas and Bloomberg survey found 59.9% of Brazilian adults support a ban.
Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula's election rival, called the crackdown populist, hypocritical and politically motivated at a campaign rally in Rio de Janeiro, Reuters reported. Separately, Lula signed a bill to penalise criminal offences related to fixed-odds betting.
