Brazil banned fixed-odds betting and online casinos on September 25, 2026, after legalising them in 2018

Brazil has gone from legalisation to an outright ban in less than two years after full regulation, and the mechanism matters for any PSP, acquirer, or operator doing business in the market: Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026 took effect immediately, but it still needs Congress to ratify it within 120 days to stay in force.

1. Fixed-odds betting was legalised in Brazil in 2018 under Law No. 13,756/2018, passed during Michel Temer’s administration. The law allowed fixed-odds betting inside Brazil, but it did not create a complete framework for licensing, supervision, or market rules, and the federal government was given two years, extendable by another two, to regulate the activity.
2. The regulatory phase finally arrived under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government in December 2023, when Law No. 14,790/2023 laid the foundations for the regulated fixed-odds betting market. That is the part PSPs care about: the market was not some grey-zone accident, but a government-built regime that companies used to justify investment, banking relationships, and local operations.
3. On September 25, 2026, Lula’s government reversed course through Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026, banning fixed-odds betting and online casinos with immediate effect. The move landed as a shock to companies that had already spent millions of reais to operate legally in the country, as well as to football clubs sponsored by betting companies and other market participants.
4. Lula pointed to household debt and gambling-harm-related issues as the main reasons for the ban, even though he had previously supported regulation as a source of tax revenue. The article also says the issue became part of the national debate in the run-up to the presidential elections, which is a useful reminder that in Brazil, payment access can turn into an election-year policy target very quickly.
5. The measure still has a procedural off-ramp: Congress must ratify it within 120 days for it to remain in force. Until that happens, the market’s future is unsettled, which is exactly the kind of uncertainty that keeps compliance teams, acquiring partners, and merchant portfolios on edge.

For high-risk payment providers, the practical lesson is simple: Brazil’s betting market was not just regulated and then banned; it was legislated, taxed, marketed, and banked before being shut down by executive action. If you are underwriting exposure there, the legal basis is only part of the story. The political timeline matters just as much.