Brazil’s STF opens public hearings on the iGaming ban as ADI 8027 goes before Judge Luiz Fux

Public hearings in Brazil on ADI 8027 begin on 3 November, with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) examining a challenge brought by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) against the provisional measure that banned fixed-odds betting. For PSPs, the important bit is that the case now sits at the intersection of legal certainty, contract continuity, and payment restrictions.

1. STF Justice Luiz Fux updated the list of participants in the hearings and partially accepted a request from the Union Attorney General’s Office (AGU), which represents the government. AGU argued that the lineup was skewed toward sports bodies, with 11 sports organizations and 6 operator representatives already on the list.
2. Fux added six more participants: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, the supermarket association ABRAS, Grêmio, the professional footballers’ federation FENAPAF, and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee. He had already, on his own initiative, summoned the Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports, bringing the total number of participants to 34.
3. The judge refused to reopen the broader debate on the social harm of gambling. He said that issue had already been examined in detail at hearings in November 2024, which concerned challenges to the 2023 betting regulation law. This round, he said, is about the new circumstance created by the ban measure itself: legal certainty, financial consequences, and the fate of existing contracts.
4. The hearing schedule is split across the day: in the morning, football clubs including Flamengo, Fluminense, Corinthians, and São Paulo will speak, along with CBF and the Olympic and Paralympic Committees. In the afternoon, AGU, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministries of Finance, Sports, Justice, and Health, plus industry groups including ANJL and IBJR, are due to appear. The final session will include ABERT, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), and other organizations.
5. No decision date has been set. Under the longest scenario, the Supreme Court review could take up to one month. Separately and independently of the court process, Brazil’s parliament must vote on the provisional measure within 120 days; if that deadline expires, the measure is automatically revoked.

For the payments side, the immediate operational point is that anti-illegal-iGaming enforcement remains in place throughout both processes, including payment and website blocking and international cooperation to catch offenders. Anti-gambling police units and special communication channels with Interpol can also continue operating in Brazil even if the ban is lifted.