Brazil's Attorney General asks Supreme Court to hear PGR before ruling on challenges to Lula's gambling ban

Jorge Messias, Brazil's Attorney General, has asked the Supreme Court (STF) to arrange a meeting with the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (PGR) before it decides whether to accept licensed-sector requests to overturn President Lula's provisional measure banning gambling. According to SBC Noticias Brasil, Messias appealed directly to Justice Luiz Fux.

Messias asked for a broader public debate involving the PGR, researchers, consumer protection organisations and economically affected stakeholders, including gambling operators. In its filing, the Attorney General's Office (AGU) maintained that the licensed sector's proposals to temporarily lift the ban are unsubstantiated. It said the measure was urgent because of mounting pressure on household budgets, debt and public health. It also noted that the gambling law adopted on 1 January 2024 already provided for the possible termination of all regulated activity if the public interest requires it.

Justice Fux has also received a request from Brazil's two largest gambling trade bodies, the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gambling (IBJR). They want Lula's decree suspended temporarily until the National Congress has produced a statement on it. Congress is due to resume its duties after the presidential runoff on 25 October, in which voters will choose between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro.

The two associations further proposed that the ban be briefly lifted, at least for operators holding a licence from the Secretariat of Awards and Bets (SPA), with a transition period of at least six months to wind down operations. The measure took effect on 26 September, and operators had until 6 October to shut down.

The trade bodies argued that the licensed market had been expanding steadily. Citing data from the Betting Management System (Sigap), they put the market at around R$101bn in the first half of 2025, falling to R$88bn in 2026. They also raised the issue of legal certainty, noting that licensed operators were granted a set number of years to operate in Brazil and paid R$30m for their licences.

The AGU and the PGR rejected these arguments, presenting a unified position before the Supreme Court that defends the decree as an emergency public health intervention.