By Brazil Stock Guide — Flamengo and ten other Brazilian football clubs will take part in a public hearing called by Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux to discuss the country’s ban on online betting. Fluminense, Botafogo, Cruzeiro, São Paulo, Corinthians, Ponte Preta, Vitória, Guarani, Portuguesa and Grêmio will join Flamengo among 34 participants representing sports organizations, the betting industry and public institutions. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, at 10 a.m. in Brasília.
The hearing forms part of a constitutional challenge brought by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), a betting industry group, against Provisional Measure 1,394/2026, an executive decree with the force of law. The measure banned fixed-odds betting and provides for the termination of operators’ licenses. The association is seeking to suspend the decree and preserve the legislation underpinning Brazil’s regulated betting market. Calling the hearing does not lift the ban or prejudge the court’s ruling.
The guest list prompted an intervention by the Office of the Solicitor General (AGU), which represents the federal government. According to public news agency Agência Brasil, football clubs and betting industry representatives supporting the resumption of betting accounted for 17 of the original 26 invitees. Government lawyers argued that their predominance could hinder a balanced presentation of views and technical evidence. On Sunday, November 1, Fux added the health and justice ministries, the Brazilian Supermarket Association (Abras), the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, the national federation representing professional football players and Grêmio.
Even after the additions, several organizations heard during the court’s 2024 hearings remained off the list, including the Brazilian Psychiatric Association, the Alana Institute, a children’s rights organization, and the Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection. Fux said the court was already familiar with the harmful social consequences of betting and that those effects had informed his opinions in previous cases.
The request for a fresh hearing, however, was itself based on the need to update the available evidence. According to the Supreme Court, government lawyers argued that experience since 2024, new findings on the effects of betting and the decree’s introduction warranted another hearing. Their proposal called for participation by researchers, consumer advocates, civil society organizations, affected economic sectors and betting operators.
The government’s defense of the ban also reflects a broader challenge to Brazil’s regulatory framework. In an October filing in a separate case concerning the laws that legalized and regulated betting, the AGU argued that the rules provided insufficient protection for public health, consumers and families. It said administrative safeguards introduced since 2024 had failed to address weaknesses in the legislation, particularly in protecting money needed for essential household expenses and limiting exposure to advertising. That case concerns the underlying betting laws, rather than the decree imposing the ban.
Alongside the clubs and betting associations, the hearing will include submissions from the Prosecutor General’s Office, government lawyers, ministries and representatives of commerce, industry and broadcasting. Each participant will have ten minutes to speak. Proceedings will be broadcast on the judiciary’s television and radio services and the Supreme Court’s YouTube channel.
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