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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected the next President of Brazil late on Sunday night (October 30), giving hope to gambling watchers that the country's sports-betting law will be regulated before a legal window expires on December 12.
Lula da Silva, known simply as Lula, previously served as President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. He won Sunday's presidential run-off election with 50.9 percent of the vote versus right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro’s 49.1 percent, with 99 percent of districts reporting.
The former and future President was narrowly favoured to win by online betting operators, who slightly increased their odds in Lula’s favour over the weekend during the run-up to the historic vote.
Major operators, such as Betfair, bet365, KTO, Estrelabet and others, that offered odds on the election shortened the odds on Lula winning the election on October 30. For example, Lula started on Tuesday on bet365 at 1.57 but had reached 1.44 on Friday, while Bolsonaro drifted from 2.25 to 2.62.
Brazil's fixed-odds sports-betting law, which was signed by former President Michel Temer at the end of his term in December 2018, has been waiting for a presidential regulatory decree for nearly four years now.
Bolsonaro is widely expected to sign the decree before the deadline of December 12, something he previously refused to do, with members of his PL party stating that it was to appease his evangelical supporters before the election.
Now that he has entered what in American politics is termed a lame-duck period, meaning he will soon be leaving office, he is expected to sign off on a decree to establish a licensing or concession system.
Lula, a leftist figure who served time in prison for corruption charges that were later annulled, will take office from January 1, 2023.
