Brazil Supreme Court schedules public hearing on betting ban for 3 November

Brazil's Supreme Court justice Luiz Fux has scheduled a public hearing for 3 November on Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, which banned fixed-odds betting in the country. The order was published on the evening of 26 October in the records of the precautionary measure in ADI 8.027, according to the order. The hearing is set for 10am in the Second Panel's session room at the STF.

The order states that the hearing responds to requests from the Advocacia-Geral da União (AGU), the plaintiffs in ADI 8.027 and the amici curiae. Fux also ordered that a copy of the decision be added to ADIs 7.721, 7.723, 7.749, 8.024, 8.028 and 8.035, all under his rapporteurship.

The rapporteur listed 26 participants in four groups. The plaintiffs are the Confederação Nacional do Comércio (CNC, ADI 7.721), the Procuradoria-Geral da República (ADI 7.749), the Associação Nacional pela Segurança Jurídica dos Jogos e Apostas (ANSEJA, ADI 8.024), the Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias (ANJL) and the Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável (IBJR), both plaintiffs in ADI 8.027, the Associação Nacional dos Prefeitos e Vice-Prefeitos (ANPV, ADI 8.028) and Abracopel, representing state lottery concessionaires and permit holders (ADI 8.035).

The government is represented by the AGU and the Ministry of Finance. Entities and academia are the Associação Brasileira de Emissoras de Rádio e Televisão (ABERT), the Associação Brasileira dos Advogados Criminalistas (ABRACRIM), the Laboratório de Regulação Econômica da UERJ (UERJ Reg), the Confederação Nacional da Indústria (CNI), the Associação Brasileira de Liberdade Econômica (ABLE) and the Associação Internacional de Gaming (AIGAMING).

The football group comprises Flamengo, Fluminense, SAF Botafogo, Cruzeiro SAF, São Paulo, Corinthians, Ponte Preta, Vitória, Guarani, Portuguesa SAF and the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF). The list does not include the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, whose ministers publicly argued for the ban, and no operators appear individually; the regulated market is represented by ANJL, IBJR, ANSEJA and AIGAMING.

The order defers a decision that had been expected shortly after the second round of the election, which the rapporteur had signalled. Since the measure was issued on 25 September, operators and the ANJL have filed 19 actions in the federal courts seeking suspension of its effects, without obtaining an injunction. The companies' authorisations expired on 25 October, the day of the vote that re-elected President Lula.

The AGU also requested the hearing. In a submission in ADI 7.721 on 5 October, the Union argued that the debate should take place only after the effects of the measure had been measured. With the hearing scheduled, any precautionary decision falls in practice after 3 November.

The presence of 10 clubs and the CBF is the main change from the public hearing Fux held in November 2024 in ADI 7.721 on Law 14.790/2023. Two of the clubs summoned, Botafogo and Guarani, are in judicial recovery. Flamengo and Fluminense staged a protest at the Fla-Flu match on 11 October against the measure. ABERT, which represents broadcasters with advertising contracts and partnerships with betting houses, was also called.