ANJL and IBJR Appeal to Brazil’s Supreme Court to Suspend Online Betting Ban

Brazil’s National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR) filed a motion for the suspension of Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026, which has banned fixed-odds games in the country.

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The groups filed a consolidated petition with Justice Luiz Fux to challenge the betting system in the country in three constitutional litigations: ADIs 7,721, 7,723 and measure till Congress makes its decision on whether to approve it or the STF rules on its constitutionality.

Operators Seek Suspension or Transition Period

The associations are asking for the complete lifting of the provisional measure so that the operators previously authorized can resume their activities. They say that the prohibition should be put on hold while the legal and legislative issues are settled.

The operators are also requesting the court to grant them exemption from the existing operators that are already granted by the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA/MF). They are also looking for a minimum of six-months transitional period for companies to end operations, instead of the government’s projected 15-month period.

Associations Question the Government’s Justification for the Ban

One of the primary reasons given by ANJL and IBJR is that the government did not establish the special circumstances that would justify a provisional measure, which must have legal characteristics of relevance and urgency.

The organisations also note that it was the federal government itself that came up with the bill that ultimately led to the sector being regulated in 2023. They felt that a change in public policy could have been discussed in Congress without taking anything off the market right away.

Betting Data and Legal Certainty at the Center of the Dispute

The petition refers to actual figures from the Betting Management System (Sigap) to refute the notion of the market experiencing growth at its accelerated pace. A report citing the SPA, which estimates that betting has dropped by 12.4% since the first half of 2025, to R$88.48 billion in the same period of 2026. The drop reported was around 42.2 % from October 2025 to June 2026.

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The associations also say the ban violates the legal certainty that companies would have felt when they received government approvals, paid licensing fees and put money into compliance systems and financial buffers. The petition says the operating licenses all cost R$30 million.

Fiscal Risks and Illegal Betting Concerns

ANJL and IBJR also state that the government failed to carry out a detailed analysis of the potential impact of the ban on taxes and funding for federally supported areas such as sport, tourism, social security and more.

The groups say the closure of authorized sites would drive consumers to illicit sites. They claim that the rules regarding user verification, responsible gambling, anti-money laundering measures, taxation, and consumer protection are different on unlicensed gaming sites.

According to a recent study by LCA Consultoria, in Brazil, the illegal operators represent between 38% and 44% of the online betting market.

STF to Consider the Legal Challenge

The appeal harks back to another battle over the future of Brazil’s betting market. The associations are trying to maintain the status quo as the court decides the constitutionality of the measure and Congress debates whether it ought to be a law.

The result will affect whether the operators are allowed to go back to business, whether exemptions will be granted, or whether they will be given more time to wind down their business operations.

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Source: SBC Noticias