Brazil betting ban clubs make their case at the STF

Six football clubs hit by the Brazil betting ban told the Supreme Federal Court (STF) on 3 November 2026 that it leaves contracts signed under federal law unfunded, with Flamengo putting R$430m a year at risk and Fluminense R$200m.

Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, Cruzeiro, São Paulo and Corinthians spoke in the morning session of the STF public hearing called by Justice Luiz Fux, rapporteur of Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) 8027. The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) filed it against Provisional Measure (MP) 1,394/2026. Our live coverage of the hearing has the full running order.

Fux opened by saying gambling addiction should be banned from national sport. He also put legal certainty and “modulation” on the table: the court’s power to set when a ruling takes effect, which could mean a transition period.

The MP, signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 25 September, bans fixed-odds betting, advertising and sponsorship. Licensed sites went offline on 6 October, and 85 authorisations lapsed on 25 October with no refund of their R$30m fees.

• Fluminense said Série A clubs drew R$1bn of R$3bn in commercial revenue from betting in 2025, or 34%.
• São Paulo said betting brought it about R$101m from January to September 2026, around 30% of revenue.
• All six asked for the MP to be suspended or for a transition; Fluminense said Brazil gave clubs 10 days.

Brazil betting ban clubs: the sponsors at stake

All six clubs had a betting company as main shirt sponsor when the MP was signed.

Values as reported by CNN Brasil (Flamengo, Corinthians, 25 September 2026; São Paulo, 7 April 2025), Lance (Fluminense, 7 March 2026), ESPN (Botafogo, 6 January 2025) and O Tempo (Cruzeiro, 28 September 2026); Corinthians term from the club, 25 July 2024.

What each club told the STF

Each club had 10 minutes, after the Justice Minister and the Attorney General’s Office (AGU). The iGaming Europe transcribed and translated the quotes from the STF broadcast on TV Justiça.

Flamengo

Flávio Willeman, General Vice-President of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, spoke in place of the president. He said the contracts with the two betting companies on Flamengo’s shirt were signed under the law then in force, and that about R$430m a year across football and Olympic sports is at risk.

Flamengo organised its finances for the next four, five years based on the contract signed in accordance with the legislation in force. Flamengo took on financial obligations with athletes and employees based on these contracts.

Flávio Willeman, General Vice-President, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo

Betting ranks third among addictive activities behind tobacco and alcohol “and yet cigarettes and alcohol were not banned”, Willeman said. He asked the court to declare the MP unconstitutional for lacking relevance and urgency.

Who will pay these financial obligations taken on by these clubs in the expectation that the legislation in force when the contracts were signed would be maintained?

Flávio Willeman, General Vice-President, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo

Betano put its contract on hold after the ban, having paid the 2026 instalments by 10 September, Terra reported.

Fluminense

Mattheus Montenegro, President of Fluminense Football Club, said the MP hits sponsorship, including pitch-side boards, and broadcasting rights, because broadcasters sell most of their advertising to betting companies. He put Fluminense’s loss at R$200m on recurring revenue of R$600m to R$700m; earlier he had publicly estimated more than R$100m.

Fourteen of the 20 Série A clubs had betting sponsors, and clubs must pay player contracts in full under the General Sports Law, Montenegro said. He set the transition for advertising limits at 56 months in Belgium, 36 in the UK, 12 in Spain and 10 in Italy.

No market in the world restricted betting advertising in less than 10 months. None. And Brazil is trying to do it, through this provisional measure, in 10 days.

Mattheus Montenegro, President, Fluminense Football Club

Superbet has sponsored Fluminense’s shirt since April 2024 and extended the deal to the end of 2029 in March 2026, Lance reported.

Botafogo

Bichara Abidão Neto, a lawyer for Botafogo, said the club’s betting sponsor has been off the shirt since the match on 7 October. Botafogo’s judicial recovery plan relied on that cash flow, and October’s revenue is “already money lost, very probably”, he said.

That sponsorship, Your Excellency, was the biggest sponsorship in the club’s history, in its more than 100 years.

Bichara Abidão Neto, Lawyer, Botafogo

Udo Varejão Secklemann, also a lawyer for Botafogo, said neither the MP’s explanatory statement nor the AGU cited a country that banned online betting and then cut addiction, debt or the illegal market. Citing Ministry of Finance data, he set 188 licensed sites before the MP against more than 66,000 sites blocked in 20 months, putting the regulated share at “less than 0.3%”.

So, Your Excellency, if even China, with its extensive state apparatus, with its mechanisms of repression and enforcement, cannot contain the advance of the illegal market, what makes us believe that Brazil will manage to contain the advance of the illegal market, which is already happening just over a month into the ban through the MP?

Udo Varejão Secklemann, Lawyer, Botafogo

Vbet became Botafogo’s main shirt sponsor in January 2025, ESPN reported.

Cruzeiro

José Francisco Cimino Manssur, a lawyer for Cruzeiro and the former Ministry of Finance adviser who coordinated the 2023 betting regulation, said the government had only complied with Article 29 of Law 13,756/2018. Cruzeiro’s sponsorship with “the world’s largest betting company” covered “four or five” monthly payrolls, he said.

Since the ban, almost 7,000 jobs have been lost with 15,000 expected, and thousands of illegal sites and match-fixing cases have appeared, Manssur said; an ANJL survey put job losses at 3,500. The Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR) has flagged 60,477 illegal sites. Manssur called Article 4, which keeps the R$30m licence fees, “a truly confiscatory measure”, and said the answer lies “in regulating and supervising, and not in banning”.

With what right does the government invite entities to pay 30 million reais each […] to operate an activity for five years and, after one year and nine months, appropriate the money and prevent the activity from continuing?

José Francisco Cimino Manssur, Lawyer, Cruzeiro

The Flutter group holds Cruzeiro’s master sponsorship, with Betnacional replacing Betfair on the shirt for 2026, O Tempo reported.

São Paulo

Danielle Maiolini Mendes, representing São Paulo Futebol Clube, said the club has more than 1,000 staff and about 300 academy players, and spent about R$350m on operating costs from February to September.

São Paulo, in good faith, signed a long-term contract with a company authorised by the Union and under the rules the Union itself established.

Danielle Maiolini Mendes, Representative, São Paulo Futebol Clube

Mendes asked for a transition if the ban stays and, whatever the outcome, “the express preservation of the integrity and anti-match-fixing structures” created by Law 14,790/2023.

The ban under discussion did not remove the data of our clubs, our athletes and our championships from the market. Companies that the Brazilian State does not reach, as already mentioned here, continue to offer them.

Danielle Maiolini Mendes, Representative, São Paulo Futebol Clube

São Paulo renewed with Superbet in April 2025, CNN Brasil reported. Since the ban it has shown Superscore, a sports statistics platform from the same group, in the master space, according to Gazeta Esportiva.

Corinthians

Pedro Luis Soares, Legal Director of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, said the club recognises gambling addiction as a problem, and that the MP gave clubs “zero” in return. He called for modulation and a transition period.

So, if we signed a 60-month contract and he worked one month, he will receive 59 in compensation.

Pedro Luis Soares, Legal Director, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista

I think there is nothing more powerful in Brazil than its football, and it could be used together with the public machine, together with the government, for what? To educate users.

Pedro Luis Soares, Legal Director, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista

The club’s marketing executive offered clubs as partners for campaigns on addiction, minors and illegal platforms, “which I think are the great common enemy”. Esportes da Sorte, master sponsor since July 2024, is seeking to end the Corinthians sponsorship.

The players’ view

Fux moved the players’ federation Fenapaf ahead of the remaining clubs. Murillo de Aragão, speaking for Fenapaf, said Brazil has more than 88,000 professional players and “nobody talks about the athletes”. According to Fenapaf, players’ share of betting revenue under Law 14,790 has gone unpaid because of bureaucratic disputes.

Because when things go clandestine, we cannot protect our athletes. If it goes clandestine, with all respect, our athletes will be much more harassed than they are today.

Jorge Borçato, President, Fenapaf

Next steps

Fux broke for lunch at 13:00 Brasília time and resumed at 14:30 (18:30 CET). Ponte Preta, Vitória, Guarani, Portuguesa and Grêmio were due to speak after the break, according to the STF hearing schedule.

In Congress, the MP locks the voting agenda from 9 November and its first 60-day term ends on 23 November. The government wants a vote by 20 December.

Source: Supreme Federal Court (STF)