MP 1.394, the provisional measure prohibiting betting in Brazil signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 25 September, is at risk of expiring without Congress having scrutinised it, according to a report by BNLData. More than 40 days after it was signed, the measure had still not effectively begun to progress through the National Congress.
The MP’s initial period of validity runs for 60 days and ends on 23 November, with the government able to extend it for a further 60 days. Because the count is suspended during the parliamentary recess, the deadline for voting on the text is 4 March 2027. If the measure is not voted within the constitutional deadline, it loses validity and all of its effects fall away — a point of direct commercial consequence for operators, since the restrictions imposed by the MP would simply cease to apply.
The immediate obstacle is procedural. The joint committee (comissão mista) that must analyse the text and issue an opinion before any floor vote has not been installed. Convening the meeting that defines the committee’s chair and rapporteur is the responsibility of the President of Congress, Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP).
According to an O Globo column cited in the BNLData report, Alcolumbre is focused on his campaign to be re-elected to lead the Senate in the next two-year term, and even the parliamentarians already nominated to the committee do not know when it will be formed.
From Monday 9 November, 45 days after publication, the measure enters the urgency regime. In practice, BNLData reported, this changes nothing for now: urgency only blocks the agenda of the chamber where the MP is being processed, and the text has not yet left the uninstalled joint committee. Contrary to what has been reported elsewhere, the outlet said, the Chamber of Deputies’ agenda remains free and will only be blocked once the committee votes the rapporteur’s opinion and the MP is sent to the Chamber floor.
Ninety-nine amendments have been filed by deputies and senators, and their analysis cannot begin without the committee. Most run counter to the Planalto’s position, maintaining sports betting while providing for specific restrictions on advertising and online casinos.
Senators press for the committee to be installed
On Wednesday 4 November, pro-government senators Eduardo Braga (MDB-AM) and Cid Gomes (PSB-CE) asked Alcolumbre to speed up processing, with the aim of voting the MP in the current legislature, which ends on 31 January 2027. Esperidião Amin (PP-SC), of the opposition, supported the request and signalled in advance that he would vote in favour of the prohibition.
Braga argued that betting consumes family resources intended for food and causes illness among gamblers. He also recalled the divergences between the Chamber and the Senate in drafting the law that regulated the sector, saying senators’ changes were overturned in the final version that prevailed in the Chamber. PL Senate leader Carlos Portinho (RJ) said “prioridade não fica na gaveta” — a priority is not left in the drawer.
Even among pro-government opponents of betting, the assessment is that the topic has “cooled” in Congress. The scenario could become more difficult for the government if the vote slips to the next legislature, when the Chamber and Senate will have a more opposition-leaning composition seen as more favourable to the platforms.
Parallel proceedings at the STF
On Tuesday 3 November the Supreme Federal Court (STF) held a public hearing on the constitutionality of the measure, attended by First Lady Janja, Health Minister Alexandre Padilha and Attorney General of the Union Jorge Messias.
Rapporteur Justice Luiz Fux defended the ban but stressed the need to discuss legal certainty and the economic effects of the prohibition. Padilha said betting harmed above all women and the poorest population, and that demand for gambling-disorder (ludopatia) treatment in Brazil’s public health system grew more than 200% in eight years.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee warned that the prohibition affects all of sport, and proposed stricter regulation as an alternative.
A BNLData opinion column dated 9 November states that a decision by Justice Fux halted the cases against the MP das Bets.
Separately, the Ministry of Sport and the Federal Police have signed a five-year cooperation agreement against match-fixing. Negotiated before MP 1.394, the agreement arrives as the sector lost the monitoring previously provided by integrity companies that operated through partnerships with licensed betting houses.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed under the GamblingZine editorial verification process.
Sources
- MP das bets corre risco de caducar sem que o Congresso sequer instale a comissão mista — Independent reporting (published 2026-11-05)
- bnldata.com.br — Authoritative secondary source
- bnldata.com.br — Authoritative secondary source
- bnldata.com.br — Authoritative secondary source
Reporting verified against the sources above; retrieval timestamps are preserved in the editorial record.