Banning online gambling puts public safety funding at risk.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva advocated for legislation to ban sports betting and online gambling in Brazil. The statement was made this Saturday (March 8th), the day before International Women's Day, during a national address on TV and radio. The presidential statement provoked immediate reactions from operators in the regulated online betting market.

Experts warn that the measure could represent a loss of R$ 14,45 billion in tax revenue and legal benefits. Serie A clubs would lose R$ 1,1 billion. Around 40 jobs would be at risk. The ban could strengthen organized crime and betting on illegal platforms.

Security funds would stop receiving billions.

Public safety would be one of the areas directly affected by the eventual prohibition of online betting . In 2025, sports betting and online games allocated R$ 614.368.595,12 to Public Safety and R$ 25.116.850,24 to the Fund for Equipping and Operationalizing the Core Activities of the Federal Police – FUNAPOL.

The Public Security Amendment (PEC 18/25), approved by the Chamber of Deputies and to be analyzed by the Senate, stipulates that the National Public Security Fund (FNSP) and the National Penitentiary Fund (Funpen) will receive 30% of the revenue from fixed-odds betting lotteries, whether in physical locations or online.

The text stipulates that the funds will receive recovered, seized, confiscated, or definitively forfeited assets resulting from the illegal operation of fixed-odds betting. Using the revenue from legal beneficiaries in 2025 as a calculation, the funds would lose a minimum of R$ 1,35 billion.

This measure aims to strengthen the fight against militias, finance technological/military modernization, and guarantee minimum wages for security professionals.

Internal polls by the PT show increased concern about security.

Recent PT (Workers' Party) surveys have revealed data on public perception regarding public safety. The survey, received by the party on Saturday (March 7th), which Igor Gadelha's column in Metrópoles had access to, indicated an upward trend in respondents' concern regarding public safety.

According to the research, on a scale of 0 to 100, concern about security is at 54,6%. This percentage is only surpassed by "corruption," at 58,1%, but on a downward trend.

According to tracking data received by the PT (Workers' Party) over the weekend, the economic situation and prices are at 19,4% on the scale. "Economy and inflation" occupy the third position among the concerns of those surveyed.