Cristiano Dresch, Cuiabá's co-owner and president, voiced support for the provisional measure banning betting operators.
Dresch added he'd rather run a club without a main sponsor than accept betting money. Cuiabá briefly partnered with Luck.bet in 2022 for BR800,000 but Dresch decided afterward to reject all further betting offers, partly under pressure from sponsor bank Sicredi, which warned it wouldn't renew if a betting brand appeared on the shirt.
Dresch pushed back on the joint manifesto other clubs signed warning that Brazilian football would collapse without betting money.
"What did clubs do with that money? Raised player salaries. That's it. Nobody invested in infrastructure, nobody paid down debt," he said.
Flamengo took the opposite view
Ironically, the President of the biggest national team, said it was not possible to pay one of their biggest footballers without the betting sponsorship.
Luiz Eduardo Baptista said that Flamengo has featured Betano as its main jersey sponsor since September 2025, under a contract running through 2028.
"How am I going to pay Paquetá in January? Everything Flamengo does is within the law, but this measure jeopardizes future revenue," Baptista said, referring to the club's outstanding payments on Lucas Paquetá's transfer from West Ham.
Baptista added the ban affects the club's wage bill and Olympic sports funded through betting-linked tax incentives, and estimated Brazilian football could lose BR2.5bn overall, with Flamengo's own losses potentially exceeding BR400m.
He called for the measure to be revisited by the Supreme Court or Congress, warning it would weaken Brazilian football.
Flamengo must pay $42m to cover Lucas Paquetá's transfer from West Ham, with remaining installments concluding in January 2028
