Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court will hold a public hearing on November 3 to examine challenges surrounding the country’s betting ban and Provisional Measure 1,394/2026.
Justice Luiz Fux, rapporteur in several cases involving gambling regulation, scheduled the session for 10:00 a.m. in the court’s Second Panel chamber. The order was issued on October 26, one day after the provisional measure extinguished Brazil’gs 85 betting licences and after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured re-election.
The hearing comes before any Supreme Court ruling on requests to suspend the measure.
According to iGaming Business, Fux had avoided acting during the presidential campaign to prevent his decision from being interpreted as interference in the election. With the runoff completed, he has now moved the case forward while citing the measure’s deadlines and its potential effects on Brazilian football and other parts of the economy.
The judge also pointed to concerns over legal certainty.
“At the request of the Attorney General’s Office (eDoc 264), the plaintiffs of ADI 8.027 (eDocs 203 and 263) and the amici curiae, I schedule a public hearing for 3 November 2026, Tuesday, at 10am, in the session room of the Second Panel of the Supreme Federal Court.”
Hearing Will Bring Together Government and Industry Groups
The session will include 26 participants drawn from government, industry associations, legal groups and football.
The National Association of Games and Lotteries, or ANJL, and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming, or IBJR, are among the organizations taking part. Both groups filed ADI 8.027 seeking to overturn the ban and suspend its effects while the court and Congress consider the issue.
Other participants include the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General of the Republic.
The list also includes the National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism, the National Association for the Legal Security of Games and Betting, Abracopel and the International Gaming Association.
Broadcasters and industry representatives will also attend, along with UERJ Reg, the National Confederation of Industry and the Brazilian Association for Economic Freedom.
Ten football clubs have been invited, including Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, Cruzeiro, São Paulo, Corinthians, Ponte Preta, Vitória, Guarani and Portuguesa. The Brazilian Football Confederation will also participate.
Individual betting operators were not included on the list.
Several football clubs had previously asked for a transition period of up to one year to adjust sponsorship agreements and supported efforts to suspend the measure while Congress reviews it.
Ban Faces Court and Congressional Review
President Lula signed Provisional Measure 1,394 on September 25.
The measure prohibits the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting in Brazil. Licensed operators were subsequently forced offline, while existing authorisations expired on October 25.
ANJL and IBJR filed their Supreme Court challenge three days after the measure was signed.
The associations argue that the shutdown undermines legal certainty and creates large economic losses. They have also questioned the use of a provisional measure in an area where Congress had already established legislation governing betting.
The Attorney General’s Office has defended the measure and asked Fux to keep the ban in force while the court considers the wider case.
The November hearing will also feed into several related constitutional actions already before Fux, including ADIs 7.721, 7.723, 7.749, 8.024, 8.028 and 8.035.
The judge has not yet granted an injunction suspending the ban, and his latest order does not establish the detailed agenda or format for the hearing.
Congress Still Has a Role in the Ban’s Future
The Supreme Court process is running alongside the congressional review of the provisional measure.
Congress faces an initial November 23 deadline to consider the measure. That period can be extended once for another 60 days.
The joint committee responsible for reviewing the text had not yet been installed as of October 21, while more than 90 amendments had already been proposed.
Many of those amendments would restore sports betting while continuing to prohibit online casino games.
From November 9, the provisional measure will gain urgency and begin blocking other votes in the relevant house until lawmakers act on it.
Even if the measure eventually lapses, the expired betting licences would not automatically return because actions taken while the provisional measure was in force remain valid unless Congress regulates them within 60 days.
Fux has no fixed deadline to rule on the injunction after the November 3 hearing.
His previous comments on gambling suggest that consumer protection will form part of the broader debate. In August, in a separate case involving games of chance, Fux said:
“The state protects the individual from himself,”
He also referred to an “entire structure of persuasion” that keeps losing bettors chasing losses.