Brazil's President Lula supports ban on yellow and red card betting

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said he was in favor of banning sports betting on cards. The statement was made during an interview with senators Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO) and Leila Barros (PDT-DF) on the PodK Liberados program, aired on Sunday, November 10.

The subject was brought up by Kajuru, who raised the issue of match-fixing, which is on the rise amid suspicions involving West Ham's Lucas Paquetá, Botafogo's Luiz Henrique, and Flamengo's Bruno Henrique.

"Can I make a suggestion? [...] From now on, you should prohibit, by decree, betting on yellow cards, red cards, throw-ins, penalties, corner kicks and only betting on the outcome of the game. [...] What do you think?” asked Kajuru, who is president of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on the Manipulation of Games and Sports Betting in the Senate.

"I think it's right because people can manipulate the result of the game, but it's much harder than manipulating the yellow card, where the player can easily, in a mean way, provoke the referee to get a yellow card. We had a case in Europe, involving a Brazilian international [Paquetá]. [...] So this proposal of yours, I think it's the most decent in the world," replied Lula. 

Although he agreed with Kajuru's idea, Lula did not comment on whether he intends to issue a decree banning betting on cards. So far, there is no restriction on this type of bet in law 14.790 (which regulates betting) and in the ordinances already published.

"It's very important because we're not just discussing gambling. We're discussing the creation of a new human being. You see one of these young kids who are playing abroad, who already earn a good salary, they don't have to get into scams to get rich quicker. And these 18-year-olds earn more than Pelé did all his life. They earn more than Garrincha earned his whole life. So we need to treat this issue of gambling very seriously," the President added.

In the interview, Lula also said, for the third time, that he would “put an end” to the bets if the regulations don't bring results, without detailing how this would be done.