Flávio Bolsonaro calls Flamengo's president after Lula bans betting.
Presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) called Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, president of Flamengo, one day after the Lula government published the provisional measure that banned betting in Brazil. In the conversation, the senator indicated that, if elected, he would find a solution for football clubs and betting houses.
The information was reported by Folha de S.Paulo based on three people connected to football and Flávio's campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to these accounts, however, the candidate did not commit to reinstating the authorization for betting companies to resume operations.
The phone call occurred before the first round of elections, a period in which Flávio was rising in the polls against Lula. In the first round, the PL candidate came out ahead of the PT candidate: he obtained 47,03% of the votes against Lula's 45,16%, according to official data.
Ambiguous stance on bets
Flávio Bolsonaro has not yet made it clear whether he intends to support the return of online betting if he wins the second round. During the campaign, he associated Lula with the "tigrinho" game, a type of online casino, and stressed that he voted against the regulation of the sector. At the same time, he defended a distinction between virtual casinos and sports betting and criticized the prohibition made with, in his words, "a pen that attacked legal security, attacked clubs, and various companies" in the sector.
The senator made a series of overtures to the segment. The day after the government veto, he published an unofficial poll on X, suggesting that Flamengo supporters voted for him more than for Lula. The publication occurred on the same day as the call with Bap. Days later, in an Instagram post, he encouraged the president of Santos, Marcelo Teixeira, to vote for him.
Flávio's campaign was contacted by email on October 8th to comment on the contact with the president of Flamengo. The request was reiterated on Tuesday (October 20th) and Wednesday (October 21st), but there was no response. Flamengo's press office also did not comment. Bap was contacted directly by message and phone call since September 30th and also did not respond.
When questioned about the club's potential support for the candidate, Flamengo's press office denied any alignment. "Flamengo does not discuss and will not declare support for any of the candidates," they stated.
Flamengo on the front line
The president of Flamengo has been the most active leader in opposing the measure. The club joined the action in the Supreme Federal Court (STF) that analyzes the validity of Lula's provisional measure, reported by Minister Luiz Fux. In addition, it displayed a phrase against the prohibition in the main advertising space on the team's shirt, previously reserved for betting advertisements.
Four people connected to football told the reporter that leaders in the sector are, in general, politically sympathetic to Flávio Bolsonaro and expect the candidate to make decisions favorable to the clubs if elected. New contacts between the Bolsonaro campaign and Flamengo were also made after the first round, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) did not publicly take sides. However, the organization's president, Samir Xaud, orchestrated a boycott of a meeting with the federal government convened less than a week after the publication of the provisional measure. According to reports, he spoke with club presidents and, although he gave them the freedom to decide individually, made it clear that he would not participate in the meeting.
Context of the bets
Online betting was legalized during the Michel Temer administration (2016-2018) and operated without regulation during the Jair Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022). In 2023, the Lula administration proposed and approved in Congress the regulation of the sector, with the aim of collecting taxes and establishing rules for betting.
The ban generated outrage among clubs and a rebound effect on directly affected sectors, such as football teams and media outlets dependent on betting advertising. A Datafolha poll from October 1st showed that the majority of the population supported ending betting, a practice associated with increased debt and gambling addiction. After his defeat in the first round, Lula began to avoid the topic, following the assessment of his advisors that the positive political impact of the measure was less than expected. The provisional measure is still awaiting processing in the National Congress, and centrist parliamentarians are considering legalizing betting after the elections.
