President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his support for banning betting on specific football movements, such as yellow and red cards and offsides.
Lula expressed this position during an interview shown on Sunday, November 10, on Rede TV, with the presence of senators Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO) and Leila Barros (PDT-DF).
Context and statements by President Lula
Lula, when addressing the issue, highlighted the vulnerability of Brazilian society in the face of manipulations by malicious businessmen and athletes. He emphasized: “It is not possible for us to manipulate Brazilian society by being victims of bad businessmen and bad athletes.
If a young player is tricked into pretending to have been sent off because he received a yellow card to win a bet, it is wrong. Neither this bet should work, nor should the player continue.” – stated the president.
Therefore, the conversation with the senators also brought to light the legislation that is about to be implemented. The president mentioned: “We have a law that will come into force in January and I am in favor of regulation, as we are doing. Now, if this doesn’t work out by February, I have no problem putting an end to it.”
Suggestions and reflections
Then, during the interview, senator Jorge Kajuru proposed to the president that he ban betting on elements such as fouls, cards and offsides, allowing them only on the final result of matches.
Thus, Lula agreed with the suggestion, reflecting on the relative difficulty of manipulating the outcome of a game compared to in-game events such as cards.
“I think it’s correct. People can even manipulate the result of the game, but it is much more difficult than manipulating a yellow card. A player who already earns a good salary didn’t need to do that.” – commented Lula.
“We have a law that will come into force (on betting regulation) in January and I am in favor of regulation, as we are doing. Now, if this doesn’t work out by February, I have no problem putting an end to it” . The president concluded.