Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced a ban on online gambling, just days before elections in which he is seeking a fourth term as the country's leader.
Lula, who is running against the son of imprisoned former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, signed a temporary order on Friday that "bans all online sports betting and casinos."
The online gambling industry in Brazil was legalized in 2018 and has since been blamed for widespread losses of family income due to addiction.
Lula described the industry as a "cancer" in his announcement, adding "either we remove the tumor, or it kills us."
The move comes just over a week before the first round of voting in Brazil's presidential election. Recent polls show the 80-year-old leader almost neck and neck with Flavio Bolsonaro.
The new measures must receive Congressional approval within 120 days to remain in effect.
Lula acknowledged that online betting was created under the administration of former President Michel Temer, but that it "grew without regulation under Bolsonaro's management."
"We will not allow betting companies to profit at the expense of the income and lives of Brazilian families," the president added.
The president described how he had heard from families who had sold everything in their homes because of gambling addiction.
