The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR) filed an urgent petition with Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Tuesday, asking Justice Luiz Fux to suspend Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026 until a new public hearing on the betting market can be held.
According to BNLData, the request was filed as part of ADI 7721, one day after the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) asked the STF to hold a public hearing to reassess the impact of online betting. The AGU also asked the court to keep in force the provisional measure banning betting operators from operating and advertising in the country.
The industry associations argued that if the federal government itself considers a new review of the issue necessary, the public hearing should take place before the ban is allowed to take effect.
“If the federal government itself considers that the matter requires additional proceedings, the logical consequence is to preserve the subject of those proceedings while they take place,” ANJL and IBJR said in their petition.
According to the associations, holding a public hearing after the regulated market has already been eliminated, licenses revoked, contracts terminated and bettors dispersed would amount to discussing a “fait accompli.”
Request for transition period until December
The associations’ main request is for Fux to issue an individual decision suspending the effects of the provisional measure, which would subsequently be submitted to the full STF for consideration.
If the suspension is not granted, ANJL and IBJR have proposed an alternative: that the transition toward the ban only begin on December 31, 2026, allowing authorized operators to remain operational until that date. Under this scenario, the deadlines established by the provisional measure would begin running on January 1, 2027.
According to the petition, the December date was not proposed by the associations. It appeared in a submission made on September 28 by Lucas Rocha Furtado, Deputy Attorney General for the Public Prosecutor’s Office, before Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (TCU).
Although he opposed betting, Furtado described the timeline established by the provisional measure as “exiguous and draconian” and pointed to potential “unconstitutionality and illegality” in the measure.
Associations warn of growth in illegal market
In the petition, ANJL and IBJR also highlighted information presented by the federal government regarding the existence of regulated and illegal markets of comparable size.
The associations warned that bettors migrating to illegal platforms represents one of the main risks associated with banning betting operators. According to the petition, the federal government itself acknowledged that this risk “requires consideration” and reported that it had submitted 10,435 illegal websites for blocking within one week.
The filing also cited data from the Bet Legal observatory, which found that the number of active unauthorized domains had reportedly increased from 1,195 to 1,949 between the eve of the ban announcement and the morning of October 6, a 63% increase.
Another survey cited by the associations identified 18,195 active illegal domains.
“In effect, the provisional measure does not ban gambling: it only bans gambling that the state regulates,” the filing stated.
ANJL and IBJR argued that migration to the illegal market could also leave groups covered by safeguards in the regulated environment without those protections, including people subject to self-exclusion mechanisms, restrictions related to indebtedness, beneficiaries of social programs and people under 18.
$476.6 million in licenses
Another argument presented by the associations concerns the amounts paid by companies authorized to operate in Brazil.
The petition noted that 83 companies paid BRL 2.55 billion ($476.6 million) for 85 five-year licenses. The provisional measure provides for those licenses to be terminated without establishing a mechanism to refund the amounts paid.
“What is decided now will tell every investor whether a license granted by the state for five years is worth five years or ten days,” the associations said.
ANJL and IBJR also cited as precedent an STF decision in ADI 7.232, concerning Provisional Measure 1.135/2022, as well as Articles 20 and 23 of Brazil’s Law of Introduction to the Rules of Brazilian Law (LINDB), which require decision-makers to consider the practical consequences of their decisions and provide for the establishment of transitional regimes.
Betting operators already offline
The petition was filed on the same day the blocking of authorized betting platforms took effect under the provisional measure. From the early hours of Tuesday (6), website traffic was redirected to brasilsembets.gov.br.
ANJL and IBJR said the platforms recorded around 100 million visits per day and also challenged the blocking of operators’ social media accounts, arguing that the measure would eliminate communication channels with bettors.
The shutdown came while operators still had funds that needed to be returned to users. According to government figures cited in the petition, BRL 1.453 billion ($271.6 million) remained to be withdrawn, spread across 28.65 million CPF numbers.
Under the provisional measure, operators must submit individualized bettor lists on October 7 and 8, while the return of remaining balances must take place between October 9 and 14. The licenses granted to operators will expire on October 25.
The decision on the request to suspend the provisional measure now rests with Luiz Fux, the justice assigned to cases challenging Brazil’s betting regulatory framework before the STF.