Football clubs and ministers appeared before STF over MP 1.394/2026 in Brazil

MP 1.394/2026, which suspended the licensed fixed‑odds sports betting market in Brazil, was the subject of a hearing at the Supremo Tribunal Federal on Tuesday 3 November 2026 where 34 participants appeared; no decision was expected that day. Those who presented included football clubs, federal ministries, industry associations and the Advocacia‑Geral da União (AGU); no individual operator was invited.

Who spoke and how the list expanded

The initial order from Judge Luiz Fux on 26 October 2026 named 26 participants. On 27 October the Ministério do Esporte and the Comitê Olímpico do Brasil (COB) were added, according to BNLData. On Sunday 1 November the list grew by six more participants at the AGU’s request: the ministries of Saúde and Justiça e Segurança Pública, the Associação Brasileira de Supermercados (Abras), the Comitê Paralímpico Brasileiro, the players’ federation Fenapaf and the club Grêmio.

The AGU said the original roster was heavily weighted toward sport and bookmakers; SBT News reported that clubs and betting companies made up 17 of the original 26 names. The AGU had proposed adding churches, banks and consumer organisations, but those suggestions were not incorporated.

Each participant had ten minutes under the STF schedule. The morning was dominated by clubs: Flamengo opened at 10:10, followed by nine other clubs including Corinthians, São Paulo and Fluminense, and then the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF) and the COB. In the afternoon the AGU spoke at 14:00, followed by the ministries of Fazenda and Esporte, the Procuradoria‑Geral and industry associations Associação Nacional de Jogos Legais (ANJL) and Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável (IBJR).

Procedural scope of the hearing

What the court could decide on Tuesday was limited to evidence gathering; Judge Fux convened the hearing instead of deciding the injunction that ANJL and IBJR sought in the direct action of unconstitutionality ADI 8.027. Those associations ask for suspension of the prohibition or, alternatively, at least six months for licensed operators to close operations in an orderly way. Fux did not set a date for a decision.

Fux’s order links the MP to three additional challenges and to three prior cases related to Law 14.790/2023, the statute that created the licensed regime. In his filing to admit the expanded list of participants Fux noted that the court already knows the social harms of gambling and has used them in its votes; in August he voted to retain the criminalisation of in‑person games of chance.

Economic and operational impact on the market

Clubs presented concrete figures. First‑division teams received R$1.03bn in betting‑related sponsorships in 2025, according to economist Cesar Grafietti in the Relatório Convocados cited by UOL. Operators and suppliers already show effects: Entain’s net gaming revenue in Brazil fell 36% in Q3 2026; the company had expected Brazil to represent about 5% of its online NGR for 2026. Evolution temporarily closed its studio in Brazil.

Earlier emergency measures have narrowed: Stake’s injunction lasted 24 hours before a federal appeals court suspended it. In the public debate over channeling, ANJL reports more than 30,000 unauthorised sites active; the Secretaria de Comunicação da Presidência said 16,627 illegal sites were referred for blocking between 25 September and 9 October.

Congress timetable

The Congress tracking page sets 23 November as the deadline for deliberation on the MP. Since 9 November the measure has blocked the chamber’s agenda where it is being processed. The deadline may be extended once for 60 days and the year‑end recess stops the count. The mixed committee charged with reviewing the measure had not been installed in the latest updates. Of the 99 amendments filed, the majority propose keeping sports betting and removing online casino gaming.

Legal and practical scenarios

The most commonly suggested option among the amendments is a compromise that preserves only sports betting. President Lula’s re‑election and his pre‑runoff statement that betting would not return complicate that path but do not determine it. A judicial suspension of the MP remains possible with no defined timetable. If the MP lapses, acts carried out under it remain valid unless Congress regulates their effects within 60 days, so authorisations extinguished would not be automatically restored. Meanwhile, licensed operators remain out of service.

The outcome of Tuesday’s hearing will show which arguments Judge Fux weighs before the Supremo or Congress take further decisions.