Brazil’s AGU asks the Supreme Court for 72 hours to respond to challenges over betting rules

The AGU has asked Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court for 72 hours to respond to actions challenging the new rules for the bets sector. For PSPs and operators, the timing matters because the disputed measure would immediately ban the offering, intermediation, and advertising of fixed-odds betting and online games in Brazil.

1. The request was sent on Monday (28/9) to Justice Luiz Fux, who is handling Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality No. 7721, 7723, and 7749. The AGU wants the Presidency of the Republic and the office itself to be heard before the court rules on the requests filed by the sector.
2. The AGU’s filing came in response to arguments from the ANJL (Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias) and the IBJR (Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável), which earlier asked Fux to suspend the effects of the provisional measure issued by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). That measure immediately bans the operation, offering, intermediation, and advertising of fixed-odds betting lotteries and online games in Brazil.
3. The document was signed by Flavio José Roman, Deputy Attorney General of the Union, and Isadora Maria Belem Rocha Cartaxo de Arruda, Secretary-General for Litigation. The AGU said the request is “strictly procedural” and does not signal any position on the substance of the cases.
4. ANJL and IBJR asked Fux to suspend the provisional measure until Congress finishes reviewing it or until the court decides the merits of the case. Their argument is that the measure takes immediate and potentially irreversible effect, while the government has not shown urgency for applying it.
5. The associations also criticized the shutdown timeline in the measure, saying it gives authorized companies no room for strategic planning. Under the current text, betting websites and apps will be taken offline on 6 October. The filing also says the provisional measure signed on Friday (25/9) nullifies Law 14.790/2023, which was enacted by the same federal government in 2023.