Lula's allies meet to discuss pressure from clubs against the ban on betting.

Allies of President Lula met late Wednesday afternoon (September 30) to discuss how to respond to pressure from football clubs against the ban on betting in Brazil. The meeting took place days after Lula signed the provisional measure prohibiting online betting in the country.

The meeting was reported by Milena Teixeira's column in Metrópoles. According to the report, the objective of the meeting was to align the campaign's discourse on the subject. A faction of the president's allies argues that any contact with the clubs should only occur after the first round of elections, scheduled for this Sunday (October 4th).

Pressure from the clubs escalated in the days leading up to it. After the provisional measure was signed, the teams protested and even threatened to halt the Brazilian Championship. Furthermore, they boycotted a meeting scheduled for Tuesday (September 29th) between representatives of the clubs from the B and C series and three ministers: Dario Durigan, from the Treasury; Bruno Moretti, from Planning; and Paulo Henrique, from Sports.

Internal government assessment

Despite resistance from the clubs, aides to the president believe that the measure has been received favorably by Lula. A survey by the PT (Workers' Party), which this column had access to, analyzed 112 occurrences on digital platforms and concluded that 76% of the comments were classified as positive for the government.