Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated on Sunday (6) that he will "end" sports betting in Brazil if the regulation does not work. The leader also mentioned that it is not "acceptable" for Bolsa Família beneficiaries to use money for bets.
“We are making a regulation and, still in October, we will remove 2,000 betting sites from this country. Then we will know what the regulation will guarantee in terms of benefits, for sure that things are being done seriously. If it does not yield results with the regulation, I will have no doubt in ending it definitively,” said the president.
The statements were made at the João Firmino Correia de Araújo State School, in São Bernardo do Campo, in the ABC Paulista region, where the president votes.
The leftist leader also stated that it is not “acceptable” for Bolsa Família beneficiaries to use money for betting.
“We do not accept the idea that Bolsa Família recipients are spending money on betting, it is not possible that someone is doing this,” Lula said.
According to the Central Bank, only in August, Bolsa Família beneficiaries spent R$ 3 billion on bets through pix.
Lula stated that he treats the addiction to bets as a “disease”
“I know people who have lost homes, cars, who spend their entire salary on a Friday or Saturday. This is a disease that we also need to treat from a health perspective,” he concluded.
Last Thursday (2), the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated that in the coming days about 2,000 betting sites will be taken down.
Starting October 11, betting houses that did not request operating authorization from the Treasury or had their requests denied will be blocked.
Source: GMB
