Ana Marie Menezes dissects the mixed messages of Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, who plays good cop and bad cop on Brazil’s gambling future.
Fernando Haddad, Finance Minister of Brazil, has grabbed national headlines once more by proclaiming to be a firm supporter of legalising land-based gambling in Brazil.
No sense of irony was displayed by the minister, who this summer had declared the authorisation of the Bets market for online gambling a “moral stain on Brazil’s conscience”. At the time, amid disputes regarding budget proposals, Haddad threatened to pull the plug on the Bets market.
Yet speaking on the Canal Livre show, Haddad talked-up the economic prospects of regulating land-based gambling, a decree carried by Bill PL 2.234/2022 that is currently under review by the Senate.
Re-approved by Congress in May, the bill has stalled in its progress due to an intervention by Senate President Davi Alcolumbre, who deemed that liberalising land-based gambling was a federal matter that should be voted on by a full house. As such, the bill was withdrawn with no date as yet attached to its determination.
Haddad insists he has always supported the land-based legislation, which would allow casinos, bingo halls and the jogo de bicho to be determined by individual states and municipalities. He describes the suspension of prohibition on casinos and bingo as a necessary economic support for tourism.
“The authorisation of casinos in specific hubs can generate jobs and attract visitors, in a more restricted and controllable experience,” he expressed.
His remarks followed the publication of the Ministry of Finance’s first half-year figures for the Bets regime.
According to data from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), licensed online operators generated R$17.4bn (€3.1bn) in gross gaming revenues between January and June 2025. That activity contributed R$3.8bn (€670m) in federal taxes and channelled R$2.14bn (€380m) to social projects, in line with the 12% levy set by Law 14.790/23.
Despite Bets economic figures matching political expectations, Haddad remains unrepentant in his critique. He again described its rapid growth as an “epidemic” and warned: “No amount of tax revenue justifies this scam.” His comments raised eyebrows, given that Haddad is one of the architects of the fiscal design of the regime.
The Minister maintains that his anxieties on Bets are primarily due to Bolsa Família liabilities, and protecting the flagship welfare programme of President Lula da Silva.
Reports from the Central Bank suggested that in one month alone, beneficiaries’ tax IDs had been used to funnel over R$3bn into betting accounts. Haddad has demanded a federal investigation into the misuse of these identities, insisting the flows were “incompatible with the reality of those receiving Bolsa Família.”
Police probes have since uncovered fraudulent use of documents to disguise suspicious transactions. Haddad states that the federal police must investigate illicit Fintech facilitating illegal gambling transactions. “Bet plus fintech equals money laundering,” he quipped in July, warning that enforcement must extend to start-ups and digital lenders whose payment systems have processed illegal wagers.
Police raids last month on fintechs linked to the Primeiro Comando da Capital, Brazil’s most notorious criminal faction, illustrate the scale of the laundering risk. Haddad maintains that enforcement will be easier for land-based gambling venues, where direct oversight is more tangible for authorities.
Haddad maintains that the Senate must settle the fate of the land-based bill before the end of 2025, either by authorising it or sending it back to Congress for further revision.
Though revisions could be necessary as the bills articles date back a decade, and its main ambition is to repeal the prohibition imposed under the 1946 Decree Law of President Gaspar Dutra.
Whether a pivot to land-based casinos and bingo offers a cleaner alternative—or merely shifts the problem—is a question Brazil’s lawmakers can no longer postpone.
Critics will continue to lambast the Finance Minister’s posturing, accusing Haddad of playing the blame game by shifting responsibility of Bets regulatory failures and exposures, disowning the rushed design of the regime, which he himself championed – as Haddad cannot pick the winners and losers of Brazilian gambling whenever it suits his narrative.
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