Fux to rule on Brazil betting ban after election run-off

Supreme Court (STF) justice Luiz Fux is expected to rule on the validity of Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, which banned online sports betting in Brazil, after the second round of the elections, citing Poder360. Fux is the rapporteur on the challenges to the measure and will decide whether the suspension of betting platforms is maintained or revoked before the full court rules.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the measure on Tuesday 25 September. It changed the regulation of fixed-odds betting and prohibited the operation, intermediation and advertising of virtual casinos and games of chance in the country. On Wednesday 2 October, Fux gave the government 72 hours to provide information on the ban. The Advocacia-Geral da União (AGU) replied on Sunday 6 October, defending that the measure be maintained; the AGU described betting as a "dragão" that needed to be tamed.

The STF began receiving challenges from different sectors shortly after the measure was published. The Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias (ANJL) and the Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável (IBJR) were the first, on Sunday 28 September, to request a preliminary suspension of the measure until Congress or the full STF rules on the text. On Tuesday 30 September, the Associação Brasileira de Emissoras de Rádio e Televisão (Abert) also applied to the court, saying broadcasters had been prevented from giving "execução a ajustes regularmente firmados" and citing "perdas de receita" from the ban on betting advertising.

Football clubs joined the challenges in the following days. Flamengo and Botafogo asked to enter the cases as amici curiae; Botafogo argued that the measure affects football and "aquilo que ele sustenta: o futebol feminino, as modalidades olímpicas e paralímpicas e as categorias de base". On Wednesday 1 October, São Paulo Futebol Clube, Ponte Preta, Guarani, Portuguesa and Vitória applied to the STF for a period of up to one year to adapt to the new rules, warning of the risk of the Campeonato Brasileiro being halted and arguing that the state should protect football as a "patrimônio cultural brasileiro". On Thursday 2 October, Cruzeiro, Fluminense and another 14 clubs asked to be heard in the proceedings and requested that Fux grant the ANJL and IBJR request to suspend the measure until Congress examines the matter.

Fux is the rapporteur on six Ações Diretas de Inconstitucionalidade on the matter (ADI 8024, from ANSEJA; ADI 8027, from ANJL-IBJR; ADI 8028, from ANPV; ADI 7721, from CNC; and ADIs 7723 and 7749, from the PGR) and is to examine the injunctive request that will define how the betting sector operates in the country.