Luiz Fux, a justice of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), is expected to rule after the second round of the general elections on 25 October on whether to suspend the Brazil betting ban, according to a Poder360 report on 19 October. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the ban as Provisional Measure (MP) 1.394/2026 on 25 September.
Fux is the rapporteur of three direct actions of unconstitutionality (ADIs) on betting. His decision on the injunction requests will set whether online operators stay shut while the full court prepares to rule on the merits.
What the Brazil betting ban covers
The MP amends Law 14.790/2023, which opened Brazil’s federal regulated market on 1 January 2025. It prohibits operating, offering, intermediating and advertising fixed-odds betting across the country, online and in person, including by foreign operators targeting Brazilian residents, according to the government’s explanatory memorandum published by the Chamber of Deputies. The ban applies to bets on real sporting events and on online virtual games; other lottery products authorised by law are excluded.
Banks and payment institutions may no longer process betting transactions, except those needed to wind down operations and refund players. Advertising and sponsorship are banned in physical and digital media. The memorandum estimates the federal revenue loss at R$1.541bn in 2026, R$5.150bn in 2027 and R$5.330bn in 2028.
Players had R$1.7bn deposited on betting platforms on 25 September, according to Ministry of Finance figures cited by Exame. Withdrawal requests closed at 23:59 on 5 October and sites and apps were due to stop operating at midnight on 6 October, with banks refunding balances between 9 and 14 October.
Who is challenging the MP
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR), admitted as amici curiae in ADI 7721, asked Fux on 28 September to suspend the MP until Congress or the STF plenary reviews it. The Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert) filed on 30 September, arguing that its members could no longer carry out signed contracts and faced revenue losses.
Football clubs followed. Flamengo was admitted as amicus curiae in the three actions on 30 September. São Paulo, Ponte Preta, Guarani, Portuguesa and Vitória asked on 1 October for up to one year to adapt sponsorship contracts, warning that the Brazilian championship could be halted, according to Poder360. Botafogo said the MP affects women’s football, Olympic and Paralympic sports and youth teams. On 2 October, Cruzeiro, Fluminense and 14 other clubs asked to be heard and backed the ANJL and IBJR request.
The government’s defence
Fux gave the federal government 72 hours to explain the ban on 2 October. In its reply, reported on 6 October, the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) asked him to reject the suspension and keep the ban in full, describing the betting sector as a “dragon” that “needed to be tamed” (translated from Portuguese), according to Poder360. Attorney General Jorge Messias used the same image at the STF public hearing in November 2024, as TGE reported on the AGU opinion.
The AGU argued that the 2018 and 2023 laws left gaps in authorisation procedures, anti-money laundering controls, monitoring, enforcement and advertising, according to Exame. It cited a 140% rise in public health system (SUS) records for pathological gambling between 2018 and 2025 and an official estimate that betting took R$62.5bn from household budgets in 2025.
The MP follows months of pressure from the government side. Lula called for a ban on online betting in April, and the Workers’ Party tabled a bill to ban fixed-odds betting the same month. Brazil’s regulated market generated about $7bn GGR in its first regulated year.
Next steps
Fux is due to decide on the injunction after the 25 October vote; no date has been set. The AGU has asked that the Prosecutor General be heard within 72 hours before any decision and proposed a new public hearing to update the one the STF held in November 2024. The full court will then rule on the merits.
Existing federal authorisations lapse on 25 October, 30 days after the MP was published and the same day as the presidential runoff between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro.
Congress must also vote on the MP. Under Article 62 of the Constitution, a provisional measure lapses unless it is converted into law within 60 days, extendable once by a further 60 days.
Source: Poder360
