Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) will hold a public hearing on 3 November to examine the effects of a provisional measure that bars fixed-odds betting and provides for the cancellation of licences held by companies in the sector.
Justice Luiz Fux set the hearing’s agenda and selected 28 entities to take part. The session will begin at 10am in the Second Chamber’s hearing room and will be broadcast on TV Justiça, Radio Justiça and the STF’s YouTube channel. Each entity will have 10 minutes to present its views on Provisional Measure 1.394/2026.
Participants were asked to submit the names and authorisations of their representatives by email by 3pm on Thursday. Each organisation may nominate up to two representatives.
Clubs, public bodies and industry groups
The selected participants include Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, Cruzeiro, São Paulo and Corinthians, along with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).
Government participants include the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), the Ministries of Finance and Sports, and the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR). The National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC) and the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) are also on the list.
Betting-sector representatives include the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR). Other participants include the Brazilian Association for Economic Freedom (Able), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert) and the Economic Regulation Laboratory of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ Reg).
Fux will make opening remarks for 10 minutes. The football clubs are then scheduled to speak for 10 minutes each, followed by the CBF and COB.
Court challenges
The hearing is part of Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) 8027, filed by the ANJL. The association is seeking an immediate suspension of Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 and, ultimately, a ruling that it is unconstitutional. It has also asked the STF to affirm the validity of Brazil’s laws regulating fixed-odds betting. The same measure is challenged in ADIs 8,024, 8,028 and 8,035.
Separate cases before the STF — ADIs 7721, 7723 and 7749, also reported by Fux — challenge Law 14.790/2023, known as the Betting Law, which established the regulatory framework for this form of betting.
The court held a public hearing on those cases in November 2024, with more than 50 experts and representatives of public bodies and civil society. The AGU sought a further hearing, arguing that evidence gathered since then and the provisional measure’s enactment warrant an updated discussion.
