The electoral motivation behind President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s decision on Friday (25) to ban online betting in Brazil is obvious.
At least two polls in recent months have measured support for a total ban on online betting, and an absolute majority came out in favor of prohibition. In the more detailed of the two, conducted by Ideia in July, 56% of respondents backed a ban.
One sign of the measure’s appeal is that the president’s main rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party, PL), called it “electoral, hypocritical, and populist” while adding: “I have always been against gambling.”
Renan Santos (Mission Party) sought to dismiss the initiative as ineffective in a video. “I’ll tell you…