Lula praises betting ban as clock ticks on Congress decision

Brazil Congress faces urgent deadline as Lula lauds betting ban’s social impact Brazil’s Congress has been urged to treat Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 as an urgent matter requiring a pending determination. Today marks the 45 day of the review by Congress on President Lula da Silva suspension of the Bet Law, authorising PM 1.394/2026 to terminate online gambling in Brazil. The measure became an “urgency item” on 9 November but the mixed congressional committee examining it has not been set up yet (members were appointed on 30 September but there is no chair nor rapporteur). The bill already has legal force and 99 amendments have been proposed. But urgency status does not automatically block the legislative agenda: first the committee must examine the text which must then be read in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies. The parliamentary delay comes as Lula continues to defend the ban publicly by saying that money spent on betting is now going back into the economy. Lula steadfast on betting ban In a nationally televised address on 8 November the president claimed that households were increasing consumption — retail sales and industrial production — so he was prohibiting it as a way of protecting family budgets and restoring spending on everyday necessities. Lula’s argument is that gambling money displaces essential purchases. He tells families milk, bread, rice, cooking oil, pasta and coffee are purchases they can make first when they stop betting on bets. The president said the benefits go beyond individual households — stronger consumption helps supermarkets and other retailers and manufacturers too. But the address itself didn’t give economic figures to show how much spending had moved from betting to other goods. The provisional measure signed on 25 September overturned Brazil’s framework for an authorised fixed-odds betting market and bans the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of sports betting and online casino games as well as services provided by overseas businesses to customers in Brazil. Yesterday Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux granted an appeal to suspend all legal challenges against Lula’s presidential measure. The Justice stated that he wanted to end bilateral rulings that risked “creating legal uncertainty” as Congress must decide the legality of the President orders The legislation also imposes restrictions on betting payments, advertising and sponsorship as well as blocking websites and applications. Now Congress has to decide whether it wants to approve, amend or reject the prohibition. Its official legislative record says that 23 November is the end of the initial deliberation period (the mixed committee must issue an opinion before votes in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate).