Brazil’s betting ban faces 99-amendment pushback

• Lawmakers file 99 amendments to Brazil’s betting ban, with 94 still live.
• Federal Police create a dedicated illegal betting and match-fixing division.
• IBIA cites projections that R$25bn in betting could move to unlicensed operators.

Brazilian lawmakers have filed 99 amendments to the provisional measure banning fixed-odds betting, and most would modify, narrow or reverse it.

The Federal Police have meanwhile created a dedicated betting unit, as integrity monitors warn that prohibition will make match-fixing harder to detect.

Reopen, rewrite or restrict

The amendment window for Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026 closed at 23:59 Brasília time on October 13. Congress president Davi Alcolumbre had extended it beyond the first round of the election.

Congress’s official record lists 99 amendments. Five were withdrawn by their authors, leaving 94 live proposals for the mixed committee.

The broadest rewrite comes from Congressman Mauricio Neves (PP-SP). His Amendment 64 swaps the ban for tighter rules under Law No. 14.790/2023. It also revives canceled authorizations, extended by the time lost to the shutdown.

Operators would face brand-only advertising and checks on bettors whose spending outpaces their income. They would also have a 48-hour deadline to remove illegal ads.

Sports yes, slots no

A second bloc would keep sports betting and drop online casino. Senator Marcos Pontes (PL-SP) would reinstate sports betting authorizations. Presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has publicly backed the same split.

Pedro Aihara (PP-MG) and Julio Lopes (PP-RJ) would go narrower, banning only slot-style games.

Others target the product itself. Marcos Braz (PSDB-RJ) would bar bets on individual events such as corners, cards and penalties. Senator Dr. Hiran (PP-RR) would allow wagers only on real sporting events.

Who foots the bill

Money splits the chamber. Capitão Alden (PL-BA) seeks proportional refunds of the R$30m five-year license fee, adjusted by the Selic rate.

Julio Arcoverde (PP-PI) wants authorizations ended with no refund and no compensation. His amendment frames the termination as a matter of public interest.

Clubs have their advocates too. Braz would let regulated sponsors keep their branding on shirts and in arenas for up to 24 months. Deputy Bebeto would allow advertising but block new stadium and competition naming-rights deals.

A new police beat

The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has created the Division for the Repression of Illegal Betting and Sports Manipulation (DRAME) within the Federal Police. Ordinance No. 1.325 was signed by Minister Wellington César Lima e Silva. It is dated October 9 and was published in the Official Gazette on October 13.

DRAME sits inside a new money laundering and asset recovery coordination, backed by a Betting Analysis Service. Director-General Andrei Rodrigues had proposed separate divisions for illegal betting and match-fixing. The final design merges them and creates no new positions.

The unit’s caseload is shifting fast. Licensed platforms have had to stay offline since October 6. Their authorizations formally lapse on October 25, after which anyone offering bets to Brazilians operates in breach of the ban.

Funding is the weak point. Taxes from regulated betting helped finance public security funds, including the Federal Police’s own. That stream is set to dry up with the market.

Flying blind on integrity

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has published a new brief on what prohibition puts at risk. It cites H2 Gambling Capital projections that around 60% of regulated activity, roughly R$25bn, could move to unlicensed operators. On that basis, H2 estimates the illegal market could grow from about R$17bn to R$42bn.

IBIA recorded 25 suspicious betting alerts involving Brazilian sport in 2025, the first full year of regulation. That is up from seven in 2024.

The association reads the rise as better detection, since licensed operators were obliged to report suspicious activity. IBIA’s own assessment of the regulatory framework scored Brazil 77 out of 100.

Khalid Ali, CEO at IBIA, said:

“Fewer alerts after prohibition will not necessarily mean less suspicious betting. They may simply mean less information about it.”

Running out the clock

The mixed committee of 13 deputies and 13 senators was appointed on September 30 but still has no chair or rapporteur. The measure enters urgency on November 9, and its first 60-day term runs to November 23, extendable once.

Little is expected to move before the October 25 runoff. The most revealing filings came from a hardliner, Senator Sargento Reginauro (PSDB-CE).

Reginauro filed 17 amendments, one of which would make the online casino ban permanent in law. Others set a 10pm to 5am betting curfew and session limits for a market Congress might yet reopen.

When one of the ban’s firmest supporters is drafting rules for a return, operators can see where the real negotiation lies.