Brazil’s sports betting sector meets to plan legal response to Lula’s MP

Within hours of President Lula (PT) issuing a provisional measure to shut down online betting and gaming platforms in Brazil, nearly all major industry players jumped into a late-night virtual meeting to figure out what to do next. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks, the useful detail is not the politics but the operational one: the sector moved fast to avoid a fragmented court fight and to seek a single legal route to suspend the MP.

1. About 180 executives and lawyers from companies and industry bodies joined the online meeting on Friday afternoon and evening, which ran until around 11 p.m. They agreed to avoid a flood of individual lawsuits and instead work on a coordinated challenge to the measure.
2. Lawyers are now reviewing the document to identify the right legal instrument to take to the STF (Supreme Federal Court) and request an injunction to suspend the effect of the MP. Pedro Simões, a partner at Veirano Advogados, said the options were still under review and that the team was considering whether each company should file separately or whether there should be a collective action “bringing more voices.”
3. The target of the measure is Brazil’s online betting and gaming platforms, including the so-called bets, the sports-betting operators that move about R$ 30 billion per month in Brazil, according to an estimate from the Central Bank. The text says Brazil is one of the largest markets of its kind in the world.
4. The government measure ordered the suspension of activities from Saturday and the return of money held in users’ wallets by October 5. According to one participant quoted by O Globo, there was initial talk of not switching the betting platforms off and continuing to operate until a court injunction arrived, but the more aggressive camp was persuaded to comply and stay within the legal framework.
5. Plínio Lemos Jorge, president of the ANJL (National Association of Gaming and Lotteries), said the mood in the meeting was one of surprise and shock. The article also notes that Lula had been escalating his criticism of bets during his reelection campaign, in a political climate shaped by polling showing broad voter support for a ban.

The practical takeaway for payment providers is straightforward: when a market of this size is put into legal limbo, merchants do not just face licensing risk — they also face sudden questions about settlements, wallet balances, refunds, and which entity should be the legal counterparty if the fight moves to the STF.