Brazil's Supreme Court convenes a public hearing on the ban on betting after Lula's re-election
the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in his victory speech after being re-elected on October 25 in São Paulo (left), and the minister of the Supreme Federal Court Luiz Fux, who has called for the public hearing for November 3
The high court will debate on November 3 the provisional measure that closed the regulated online betting market.
Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) will hold a public hearing on November 3, at 10:00 a.m., on Provisional Measure 1.394/2026. It is the rule with which the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva banned fixed-odds betting throughout the country on September 25. Minister Luiz Fux has convened it this Tuesday, two days after Lula was re-elected president in the second round.
The hearing is part of the direct action of unconstitutionality 8027, filed by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), one of the sector's employers' associations. The association asks the Supreme Court to immediately suspend the provisional measure and, on the merits of the matter, to declare it unconstitutional and recognize the validity of the laws that regulated the activity. The court's note does not include any pronouncement on the requested precautionary suspension.
Fux's office cites 26 institutions and entities. Among them are the ANJL itself, the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR), the national confederations of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Finance, the Attorney General's Office of the Union, the Brazilian Football Confederation, the Attorney General of the Republic and clubs such as Flamengo, Corinthians and São Paulo. According to the Supreme Court, it was the Attorney General's Office, which legally defends the Government, that requested a new hearing. It argued that the experience accumulated since the one held in November 2024, the new evidence on the impact of betting and the provisional measure itself justified updating the debate.
The call comes at a different political moment than a month ago. Lula won the second round on October 25 with 51.79% of the valid votes (64,256,232 votes), compared to 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro, according to the Superior Electoral Court. Three days earlier, in a live broadcast on YouTube with federal deputy André Janones and financial communicator Nath Finanças, the president was blunt: "Não voltará mais a bet. Quem quiser ganhar dinheiro, vai trabalhar" ("The bet will not come back. Whoever wants to make money, let him work"). In the same speech he added that "se a gente não acabar, a bet vai acabar com o povo brasileiro" ("if we don't end it, the bet will end with the Brazilian people").
When Lula announced the veto, nine days before the first round, Infoplay wondered to what extent it was credible or responded to an electoral coup. With the polls already closed, the executive that signed the ban will continue to lead the country, and the president has reiterated his intention to maintain it.
The provisional measure, a regulation with the status of law that the president can dictate as a matter of urgency and that Congress must later validate, prohibits the exploitation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting. It covers both sports betting and online games, as well as authorizations granted by states and foreign operators that provide service to users in Brazil. According to the Senate, the other lottery modalities provided for by law are outside the prohibition. Since October 6, websites and applications must be offline.
The blow to companies is also economic. The government had granted 85 authorizations at 30 million reais each (5.03 million euros), 2,550 million reais in total (427.68 million euros). The regulation establishes that the termination of the concessions does not give the right to compensation or the return of those amounts. Non-compliance is punishable by fines of up to 2,000 million reais (335.44 million euros) and the suspension of activities. The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance, which until September was the regulator of the market born from the law that Lula sanctioned at the end of 2023, set the closure procedure in Portaria 3.005/2026 . Operators have until December 15 to settle their financial and regulatory obligations.
The other front is in the National Congress, which must approve the provisional measure for it to become law. According to the processing file, as of today the mixed commission in charge of examining it has not yet been constituted. 99 amendments have been presented, five of them withdrawn on October 14. The first term of validity expires on November 23 and can be extended once for another 60 days. Since November 9 , the rule has been in an emergency regime and blocks the agenda of the chambers. If it is not voted on in time, the provisional measure will lose its effectiveness.
The government accompanied the veto with a bill that criminalizes five behaviors related to illegal gambling, with penalties of two to six years in prison and a fine. That text will only come into force if approved by Congress.
