Brazil Supreme Court adds six participants to fixed-odds betting hearing

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux has added six participants to the public hearing on the fixed-odds betting case ADI 8027, scheduled for 3 November at 10am in the Second Panel's session room. The hearing concerns Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, which prohibited fixed-odds betting in Brazil. The updated list now has 34 participants, up from 28, according to the justice's order.

The additions are the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Health, the Brazilian Supermarkets Association (ABRAS), Grêmio, the National Federation of Professional Football Athletes (FENAPAF) and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee. The order responded to a request from the Federal Attorney General's Office (AGU) to expand the list. The AGU argued that the original composition was made up predominantly of sports entities (11) and representatives of betting operators (six), which it said could hinder a balanced airing of the different currents of opinion. Fux granted the request in part.

The hearing was convened on 26 October with 26 participants. The following day the rapporteur ordered, on his own initiative, that the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport be notified. The case was brought by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) against the provisional measure.

Fux declined to reopen the debate on the social harms of betting. He noted that on 11 and 12 November 2024 he presided over a public hearing in cases ADIs 7.721 and 7.723 on Law 14.790/2023, where the subject was discussed at length, and listed entities heard at that time on gambling addiction, mental health and consumption. He concluded that the harms of betting are widely known to the Supreme Court. According to the justice, the new hearing arises from a supervening fact, the enactment of Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, which he said raised questions about alleged legal uncertainty, severe financial impacts and harmful effects on contracts then in force, matters he said were not and could not have been addressed in 2024.

The order also referred to Fux's vote on 6 August 2026 in RE 966.177/RS, which concerns whether the 1988 Constitution received article 50 of the Criminal Misdemeanours Law, which criminalises the exploitation of games of chance. The justice voted for reception and said there is no constitutionally protected fundamental right to exploit games of chance, adding that the activity draws its profit from the subject's cognitive inability to assess the risks involved in their decision. That judgment is suspended following a request for review by Justice Flávio Dino.

The schedule sets three speaking blocks. In the morning, from 10.10am to 12.40pm, speakers include Flamengo, Fluminense, SAF Botafogo, Cruzeiro SAF, São Paulo, Corinthians, Ponte Preta, Vitória, Guarani, Portuguesa SAF, Grêmio, FENAPAF, the CBF, the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee. In the afternoon, from 2pm to 4.10pm, the AGU, the PGR, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Sport, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Health, the CNC, ABRAS, ANSEJA, ANJL, IBJR, ANPV and Abracopel are listed. The final block, from 4.30pm to 5.20pm, has ABERT, ABRACRIM, CNI, UERJ Reg, ABLE and AIGaming.

Each participant may have up to two representatives, whose names and powers of attorney must be sent by email by 8pm on Monday 2 November. Fux ordered that a copy of the order be added to cases ADIs 7.721, 7.723, 7.749, 8.024, 8.028 and 8.035.