Brazil’s Ministry of Sport has told the Supreme Federal Court that the federal prohibition on fixed-odds betting has undercut the principal arguments in ANJL’s challenge to Minas Gerais’ restrictions on betting advertising and sponsorship.
The ministry’s legal view does not end the case. It acknowledges that Minas Gerais Decree No. 49.279/2026 remains formally in force and that Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026 has only provisional legal force. Justice Flávio Dino must decide whether the case has become moot or whether to consider ANJL’s request for interim relief.
As reported in August, ANJL brought the constitutional action after Minas Gerais restricted betting publicity on state property and at events backed by the state executive branch. The association argues that the decree intrudes on the Union’s exclusive legislative authority over lotteries and commercial advertising, improperly regulates through a sub-legislative instrument, and discriminates against federally authorised operators.
The ministry set out its position in Information No. 00141/2026, prepared by its Legal Consultancy and signed on Oct. 13 before approval the following day by legal adviser Guilherme Assunção Fagundes. It said the federal measure materially changed the circumstances underlying ADI No. 8.014.
Provisional Measure No. 1.394, dated Sept. 25, prohibited the offering, operation, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting nationwide, in physical and digital settings. It also applied to state and Federal District operations, barred new authorisations, required betting websites and apps to be made unavailable after 10 days, and provided for authorisations under Law No. 14.790/2023 to expire after 30 days.
The Ministry of Sport’s Directorate for Monitoring and Evaluation of Sports Betting argued that the alleged unequal treatment of federal and state operators had disappeared because both were now barred from advertising and faced revocation of their authorisations. It also said the federal advertising restriction was broader than Minas Gerais’ decree, which is limited to state public assets, public resources and events promoted or supported by the state executive branch.
The directorate concluded that no fixed-odds betting advertising had been legal nationally since Oct. 6, with or without the Minas Gerais decree. But the ministry noted that the federal measure did not repeal the state rule, and that the earlier legal framework could return should Congress fail to convert the provisional measure into law.
There is also a stated exception to the assertion of a complete advertising ban: the government created an allowance for betting advertising connected to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, supported by Law No. 15.421/2026 and Ordinance SPA/MF No. 2.596/2026.
The ministry did not support declaring the Minas Gerais decree wholly unconstitutional. Citing earlier Supreme Court decisions on state lottery powers, it said Minas Gerais could administer its own assets but could not impose a general restriction on economic activity or interfere with federal authority, including over privately operated public assets or private events receiving state support.
ANJL has separately filed ADI No. 8.027 against Provisional Measure No. 1.394, which has been assigned to Justice Luiz Fux. The measure has not yet been voted on by Congress, while both its constitutionality and the continuing effect of the Minas Gerais decree remain before the Supreme Federal Court.
