Flamengo and Fluminense turn Fla-Flu into a national protest against Brazil’s betting ban

Rio de Janeiro’s biggest derby became a very public message to Brasília: “Prohibiting is not protecting.” On Sunday, October 11, Flamengo and Fluminense used the shirt front, the stands, and a national TV broadcast to push back against Medida Provisória nº 1.394/2026, which banned fixed-odds betting in Brazil.

1. The match, part of the 30th round of the Brasileirão, was shown live on TV Globo and Premiere, giving the campaign its widest exposure since President Lula signed the measure on September 25.
2. Both clubs entered the pitch with the same message in the most visible place on the kit: “Proibir não é proteger.” In the Norte stand, Flamengo fans displayed three banners reading: “Brazilian football cannot be the victim of this own goal. Lula, Congress and STF.”
3. The protest is part of a campaign led by the Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias (ANJL) and the Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável (IBJR). In the previous round, the same phrase appeared on advertising boards across nine matches. The groups say the goal is to highlight the impact of banning regulated operators and the expansion of illegal platforms that operate without oversight or player-protection tools.
4. The boards also carried lines aimed at lawmakers and regulators: “You do not change the rules in the middle of the game,” “Who profits from illegal bets?” and “Demand does not disappear, it just moves elsewhere.”
5. Betano and Superbet were behind the coordinated move, according to Fluminense president Mattheus Montenegro. Flamengo’s master sponsorship with Betano was worth about R$ 268.5 million per year, according to Poder360. The contracts were not terminated, and both clubs are also seeking to join the Supreme Federal Court cases challenging the MP as amicus curiae.

The regulatory picture is messy in the way these things tend to be: the MP is already in force by executive decision, awaits Congressional review, and is being contested at the Supremo Tribunal Federal, under Justice Luiz Fux. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks watching high-risk flows in Brazil, this is not just a sports story; it is a live test of whether regulated betting can keep its place while offshore operators fill any gap left behind.