Brazil's Luiz Fux reportedly delays betting-ban ruling until after presidential runoff

A ruling from Justice Luiz Fux of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) on the court cases against the provisional measure that shut down licensed betting operators will wait until the presidential runoff has taken place. The second round, pitting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, falls on 25 October. That is also the date on which the 30-day term of the measure ends for fixed-odds betting operators.

Three major cases are assigned to Fux as rapporteur, and they concern the regulation of online betting and the ban; one of them is a direct action aimed at the provisional measure. Petitions to take part in the proceedings came from the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABERT), the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR). Cruzeiro, Flamengo and São Paulo are among the football clubs that have requested access to the cases.

The organisations argue that the measure creates uncertainty, challenges constitutional principles and puts at risk existing advertising and sponsorship deals between clubs and media organisations. According to the associations' figures, betting operators paid more than R$1bn to clubs in Brazil's Série A in 2025, equal to 7.9% of the total income of the 20 teams. Betting companies have also paid for the naming of competitions such as the Brasileirão and Copa do Brasil, and for advertising at stadiums and on television.

Under the provisional measure, no communications, advertising, marketing or sponsorship connected with the fixed-odds betting service is permitted. Flamengo led the clubs in going to the STF against the measure, asking for an injunction ahead of 5 October, when betting sponsors had to be removed from uniforms and other promotional areas. That request failed, and the club's relationship with Betano was terminated. Every club has now ended or called off its bookmaker deals, and Corinthians struck a short-term arrangement with Shopee to sell their products during the final stretch of the Brazilian league season.

Backing the ban is the Attorney General's Office (AGU), which wants Fux to seek the view of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGR) and to stage a public hearing prior to any conclusion. On the other side, betting industry associations, executives and over 20 football clubs have intensified their campaign for the court to strike down the measure brought in by the federal government.

The court proceedings run alongside a legislative process: within 120 days of its publication, the provisional measure must be approved by Brazil's National Congress to become permanent law. The source states that the industry remains unsure of its future until legislative changes are made and the STF challenges are resolved.