Football Bears the Cost of Brazil's Online Betting Ban, and Lula and PT Are Being Held Responsible

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) held its first hearing yesterday in Brasilia on the online betting ban introduced by the Lula government. The hearing addressed the effects of Provisional Measure 1,394/2026, which President Lula issued on September 25. The decree repeals the 2024 Betting Law and bans all online betting in Brazil.

The ban is being tested on two fronts. Congress will consider whether to convert the decree into permanent law, reject it, or amend it. The STF is examining objections to the constitutionality of the ban. Justice Luiz Fux, who presided over the hearing, noted that before the betting framework took effect in 2024, the court heard extensive evidence in public hearings on the social and economic consequences of betting.

The government is in a difficult position. Having acknowledged that it could not adequately oversee a licensed market, it now needs to show that it can suppress the illegal betting market. The hearing also discussed the consequences of shutting down a market that was established under Lula's own signature.

Representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Attorney General's Office (AGU), football clubs, and the National Federation of Professional Footballers (Fenapaf) spoke at the opening session. Brazil's professional football leagues and clubs described themselves as the "first casualties" of the ban. The clubs stressed that the economic consequences of the ban would be clearly shown to Lula and officials of the Workers' Party (PT).