Brazilian STJ minister urges casino regulation debate
Regulation1 min read
Brazilian STJ minister João Otávio de Noronha argued in an interview that Brazil should debate and regulate casino gambling rather than send demand abroad. He said his comments did not support betting products he believed should remain unregulated or unauthorised.
Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) minister João Otávio de Noronha defended the regulation of gambling in Brazil during an interview at the XIV Lisbon Forum.
Noronha said it was unreasonable for Brazilians to travel abroad to gamble while the jobs created by casinos remained outside Brazil. He said he was not personally in favour of gambling but that it should be debated because some people were interested in it. He distinguished between forms of gambling, saying his comments should not be taken as support for betting products that he believed should not be regulated or authorised in Brazil.
In a 2025 STJ case concerning enforcement in Brazil of a $1m casino debt incurred in Las Vegas, Noronha criticised the inconsistency he saw in allowing betting while casinos remained prohibited.
Brazil has prohibited casinos since 1946, while lotteries, horse race betting and fixed-odds betting have been treated under separate legal frameworks. The regulated sports and online betting market has developed more recently through Law 14.790/23. Legalisation of land-based casinos remains under debate through proposals including PL 2.234/22, which advanced in the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee in 2024.