Brazil has initiated the closure of more than 2,000 online betting sites, including those associated with popular football teams like Corinthians and other first-division clubs, in a significant move to regulate the gambling sector. This crackdown comes as the government seeks to address what Finance Minister Fernando Haddad has described as a betting “pandemic” affecting the country.
Since the legalization of sports betting in Brazil in 2018, the online gambling market has operated largely without oversight, with minimal regulations or taxation. This lack of regulation has contributed to an explosion of online gambling, with many Brazilians engaging not only in sports betting but also in games like Aviator—where players wager on the flight of a virtual airplane—and the casino game Fortune Tiger.
Under new regulations set to take effect in January, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government is taking a firm stance against unregistered betting sites. The new rules aim to combat fraud and money laundering while protecting users, particularly by prohibiting minors from participating in betting activities.
“Anyone who is not regularized, or in the process of being regularized, is being taken off the air,” Haddad stated. The finance ministry has identified 2,040 “suspicious domains,” which it has requested the telecoms regulatory agency, Anatel, to block.
Among the sites on the blacklist is Esportes da Sorte, a sponsor of Corinthians, as well as other clubs like Athletico Paranaense, Bahia, and Gremio de Porto Alegre. These sites will be banned from advertising, which includes sponsorship of football clubs.
In contrast, over 200 other betting sites will be permitted to continue operating after complying with the new regulations. Brazil’s central bank estimates that approximately 24 million of the country’s 212 million residents, roughly one in nine people, engage in online gambling.
President Lula has previously cautioned that gambling is leading many low-income Brazilians into debt, highlighting the urgent need for regulation in the sector.
