Temer admits fault regarding the legalization of betting during his government.
In December 2018, with his days in the Alvorada Palace numbered, Michel Temer signed the law that paved the way for online sports betting in Brazil. Almost eight years later, faced with research showing Brazilians struggling with gambling, the former president is at a loss for words to defend that decision.
“I do not applaud that act of mine,” said Temer, in an interview with the program Frente a Frente, from Folha and UOL, conducted by journalists Daniela Lima and Fábio Zanini on Monday (6). The statement signaled a kind of mea culpa , although the former president rejected the term regret.
The pressure for casinos
Temer revealed the context that, according to him, motivated the decision at the end of 2018: at that time, there was strong pressure for the legalization of casinos in Brazil, combined with equally intense resistance to the measure. The authorization of sports betting emerged as an intermediate solution. "A lesser evil. That's what led me to sign it at that time."
Throughout the interview, the former president distinguished between the act of signing and what came after. He argued that the regulation, implemented during Lula's government, was planned from the beginning. "If you ask me, as you did, if I regret it, I don't say I regret it, because I know the regulation would come later, but I can't applaud that act."
What to do now
When questioned by journalists about possible solutions, Temer defended two approaches: "strict regulation" and "very special oversight" for the sector. He acknowledged that illegal gambling already existed before legalization, with residential establishments offering roulette and bingo throughout the country. However, access via cell phone has changed the scale of the problem. "It's not useful for the country," he admitted.
The former president also raised the possibility of restrictions on specific groups, citing beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família program as an example. The argument was that the government, by transferring income, would have the legitimacy to guide the use of that money. When Zanini compared the logic to a ban on buying cachaça (a type of Brazilian rum), Temer backed down: "That would be an exaggeration." He preferred to frame the proposal as "beneficial protection for society," comparing it to seatbelts, whose mandatory use also generated protests before becoming the norm.
The data that framed the debate came from a Datafolha survey cited during the interview: 35% of Brazilians are experiencing problems related to gambling, an issue that journalist Fábio Zanini described as simultaneously affecting mental health, finances, and the economy. Current regulations, enacted by the Lula administration, already include a ban on advertising for the sector, but Temer acknowledged, when Daniela Lima raised the point, that even this measure was insufficient to curb the sector's negative effects.
Check out the interview where he talks about betting:
Fabio Zanini:
Mr. President, I can't help but ask, there's an issue in Brazil today that's causing distress to many families and individuals, and that's the issue of gambling. Several surveys, including one published by Folha de S.Paulo (a Brazilian newspaper) with Datafolha, and we even published a headline the other day showing that 35% of Brazilians are struggling with gambling and experiencing anxiety. It's a mental health issue, it's a financial issue, and it's even harming the economy as a whole.
You were the president who approved the law that instituted betting in Brazil. The regulation was during Lula's government, but I would ask you: do you regret it? How do you see this issue? What could be done now to resolve this problem? But, mainly, would you have done things differently back then?
Michel Temer:
Let's say I don't applaud that action of mine. From time to time I would back down from certain decrees that I drafted, or rather, modified decrees. The press would report: "Temer backs down." I said: "It's a good thing I backed down, because I have no commitment to error." This is a phrase I collected from President Juscelino: I have no commitment to error. So I don't applaud that action of mine. Now, you see that the regulation came later.
It's a strict regulation to prevent so-called illegal gambling.
Fabio Zanini:
But even the legal stuff is causing problems.
Michel Temer:
It's causing problems, you're absolutely right. Just like sports betting causes problems, general lotteries cause problems, all games cause problems. But this one is causing even more problems.
Fabio Zanini:
Because the guy is on his cell phone, he doesn't have to go to the lottery shop to place a bet, etc.
Michel Temer:
It's not useful for the country, I confess it's not useful for the country. If you ask me, as you did, "Do you regret it?" I won't say I regret it, because I know that regulation would come later, but I can't applaud that act. I'm obliged to say it.
Daniela Lima:
You set a four-year deadline, exceeding the timeframe stipulated in the project. I want to continue addressing this, however, as I explained to you, and to you who are following us on the UOL channel, I would like to thank you for your viewership.
Mr. President, speaking of betting again, I found it interesting, an interesting admission, "I don't applaud that action of mine." Could you give me a little context in these few minutes we have? Your memory is a very fine one.
Sir, do you have any idea what the pressure was like? You said it's November, it's December, Mr. President. Let me see, it's December 2018. You were on the verge of leaving the Alvorada Palace.
Michel Temer:
There was a very strong attempt to establish casinos in the country. And there was a lot of resistance to casinos. And the intermediate approach that seemed appropriate to me at that time was to authorize them.
Daniela Lima:
He thought it was a lesser evil.
Michel Temer:
A lesser evil. That's what led me to sign at that time.
Fabio Zanini:
And today, how do you see this? Do you think there should be a ban on advertising, a total ban on betting? If you had the power today, what would you do about it?
Michel Temer:
I would implement strict regulations. And very strict oversight. Because you know that even when betting wasn't authorized, gambling was rampant throughout the country. There are countless gambling dens, even residential ones. Do you know that?
Fabio Zanini:
Yes.
Michel Temer:
And they sponsored games, roulette, bingo, thousands of things.
Fabio Zanini:
That's because now it's entered the favela. It's entered everywhere.
Michel Temer:
Everywhere.
Fabio Zanini:
The guy's on his phone, he's playing games. He doesn't need to go to bingo.
Michel Temer:
Yeah, I think there could be regulations prohibiting certain things from certain people playing. For example…
Fabio Zanini:
Ban people from playing?
Michel Temer:
I think, I don't know, you take the Bolsa Família program, and there's a logical connection, because those who receive Bolsa Família didn't earn that money on their own, they received it as a suitable benefit from the government. So, I think the government, in that sense, can interfere. Since I'm giving you the money, I want you to dedicate that money to your children, your wife, whatever.
Fabio Zanini:
But you'll have to ban people from drinking cachaça with the money too.
Michel Temer:
No, that's going too far. If you ban it, you'll create a national problem. You're dealing with a topic that has a certain magnitude. I don't know, I don't want to say whether you should drink cachaça or not, that's not my problem. But I think it would be educational, you see? It would be educational.
Fabio Zanini:
A kind of guardianship, too. A kind of guardianship, too.
Michel Temer:
Yes, it's beneficial guardianship for society. Let's call it that.
Daniela Lima:
We have about 30 seconds, that's more or less what I think, but even with cigarettes, there was still the educational effect of the photo, the advertising, the ban on advertising and so on, it didn't manage to stop everything, it's still a kind of tutelage. Today it's already prohibited, the Lula government banned it.
Michel Temer:
Take the case of the seatbelt. Do you remember when seatbelts were required? Absolute protest. "No, the person has the right." But it's to prevent accidents, etc.
