Fux Comes Out for Banning the Bets: "They Should Be Banned"
At the opening of the Supreme Court's public hearing, the rapporteur of the cases against the ban said gambling addiction is a public health problem. His vote still depends on ten other justices, and the trial has been stalled since August by a request for review from Flávio Dino.
Adapted translation of the Portuguese original. Read the original.
Cartoon“The bets should be banned.” The line is from Justice Luiz Fux of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Brazil's top court, spoken this Tuesday (November 3) at the opening of the public hearing he himself called. Fux is the rapporteur of the cases in which betting companies ask to overturn the provisional measure that banned the bets, issued by the Lula government on September 25. Since October 6, the sites and apps have been offline.
“A Public Health Problem”
Fux said he was convinced by listening to society since 2024, when the first cases against the law regulating betting reached the STF: “gambling addiction is a public health problem”. Of what he has heard so far, he summed up: “Nobody here has spoken well of it.”
He said he had wanted to say this back in August. In the trial on the 1941 law that bans games of chance, Fux called the bets a “deleterious new marketing strategy,” but Justice Flávio Dino asked for time to review the case, and it stalled. “There was a request for review that has not come back to this day,” he said.
The Guest List
The hearing began under criticism. Lawmakers accused the justice of inviting only those with a stake in the industry. Of the 34 organizations summoned, at least 22 had already spoken out against the ban, by CNN's count. Abestadão showed that bets and clubs held 17 of the 26 seats on the first list. Fux called the criticism “misinformed”: “The claim that I only summoned companies and soccer teams is baseless, no.” The Attorney General's Office asked to include representatives of the Health and Justice ministries.
What Comes Next
Fux's position is one vote, not a decision. “It so happens that I have ten colleagues who will have to weigh in,” he said. He also spoke of legal certainty and of modulating the effects of a possible ban, with deadlines or conditions. The companies point out that they paid R$30 million for a license: the government collected R$2.55 billion from 85 licenses, and the provisional measure provides no refund.
The measure still has to pass Congress, which has up to 120 days. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court's rapporteur has made clear which side he is on. It is the side of the bettor who was left outside the hearing.
Sources
- Fux defende "banir" bets e diz que já ouviu entidades contrárias às apostas
Fux said the bets should be banned and that gambling addiction is a public health problem; he called the criticism of the hearing misinformed and recalled that the STF heard dozens of organizations in 2024. Of the 34 organizations summoned, at least 22 had already spoken out against the ban. The sites went offline on 10/6, and Congress must review the provisional measure within 120 days. Fux suggested modulating the effects of a possible decision.
- Fux diz que bets devem ser banidas e defende proibição das apostas no Brasil
Provisional Measure 1,394 was issued on 9/25/2026. Fux is the rapporteur of eight cases on online betting, including against the measure, filed by ANJL, IBJR and Anseja. In August, in the trial on the 1941 law on games of chance, Flávio Dino asked for a review and the case did not come back. The government collected R$2.55 billion from 85 authorizations under Law 14,790/2023.
