Brazilian footballers win injunctions to block their names and images from sports betting markets

Four football players have obtained preliminary injunctions in Brazilian courts to stop betting operators from using their names and identities in individual player markets. For PSPs, bookmakers, and any platform selling player-specific props, the case goes straight to a familiar problem: where the product ends and the athlete’s identity begins.

1. Ricardo Bueno, Guilherme Marques, Gabriel Barros, and Gustavo Vilar filed actions through lawyer Marcelo Robalinho, a partner at RA Law, against Betano, Bet365, Verabet, and Cassino.bet. The injunctions are still appealable, and the courts have not ruled on the merits yet.
2. The core argument is not against sports betting itself. The athletes’ defense says the issue is the commercial use of an individual player’s identity as part of the betting product: wagers on whether a specific player will score, receive a yellow card, or commit more than five fouls. In other words, the player is being turned into the product, not just the match outcome.
3. Robalinho also said the lawsuits point to a second risk: harassment, pressure, and threats from bettors who lose money. He described messages sent to players on social media demanding compensation after a missed penalty or an unexpected result, which puts athletes in what he called a risky situation for something they did not agree to participate in.
4. In one injunction issued by a court in Minas Gerais, the judge accepted the argument that linking a player’s image to the sports betting market may have negative effects on professional reputation, especially amid the growing number of investigations involving sports match-fixing and events related to online betting. The order prohibits Verabet from using, exploiting, publishing, or linking, directly or indirectly, the athlete’s image, name, sporting identity, nickname, or any related personality elements on its platform.
5. The case could set a precedent for further litigation in Brazil and abroad. The text says the injunctions remain subject to appeal, but if more players follow, operators offering individual player markets in high-risk verticals will want to watch how Brazilian courts define the line between permissible betting content and unauthorized commercial use of a player’s identity.

The thing is, player-specific markets are not just a product design choice. They create exposure on two fronts: publicity rights and customer backlash when the bet loses. For operators and their payment partners, that means this is not a branding dispute tucked away in legal fine print; it is a live risk around product structure, reputational harm, and whether a market can keep running once a court says the player’s identity cannot be part of the offer.