The Federal Court of São Paulo has granted a partial injunction to Stake, allowing the betting platform to operate in Brazil until 25 October.
The decision was signed by Federal Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of the 9th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo.
The lawsuit was filed by the law firm Bichara e Motta, and requested the suspension of Provisional Measure 1.394. It also asked for Stake to be allowed to operate until 31 December 2029, when its operator licence expires.
The judge partially granted the request, authorising the betting platform to operate until 25 October. The judge ordered that the platform’s website be unblocked so the company can continue its operations.
With this decision, the authorities must refrain from considering Stake’s authorisation terminated. Therefore, the blocking of the company’s platform is suspended. It also prevents access to the gov.br website, which the government created to guide bettors about the end of the betting process.
The partial injunction comes after Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva banned online gambling in late September through a provisional measure.
Prior to Stake’s court victory, two of Brazil’s main gambling trade bodies called upon the Supreme Federal Court to overturn Lula’s ban. It’s not yet clear when the court will make a ruling.
The decision to allow Stake’s operation until 25 October corresponds to the date set by the provisional measure for the expiration of the operators’ licences.
According to the judge, “if the authorisation were legally nonexistent from the publication of the provisional measure, there would be no reason for the rule to establish a specific later date for its termination”.
According to Cristiane Farias, the administration cannot “fully anticipate the termination effects to a date prior to the time frame foreseen in the measure itself”.
Conditions for Stake’s operation
The Federal Court authorised the resumption of the operation, but imposed 12 conditions:
- Prohibition of betting by individuals barred by law, government programmes or regulatory mechanisms;
- Prohibition of gambling with money from social programmes;
- Maintenance of the mechanisms for identifying the bettor;
- Prohibition of advertising aimed at children and teenagers;
- Prohibition of new promotional campaigns and initiatives to expand the user base;
- Maintaining the possibility for the bettor to withdraw their balance;
- Preserving sufficient funds to cover outstanding balances;
- Preservation of registration, financial and transactional records;
- Maintaining the transmission of reports required by regulatory bodies;
- Prohibition on operating through unauthorised domains;
- Prohibition against using the court decision to “legitimise clandestine operators or third parties who misuse the Stake brand”;
- Maintaining measures against fraud, counterfeiting, trademark misuse and the actions of unauthorised operators.
Bichara e Motta comments
The law firm handling the case, Bichara e Motta, noted the importance of the ruling for the fixed-odds betting sector.
“This is the first favourable decision for a fixed-odds betting operator in Brazil in the legal dispute regarding the effects of Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026,” the firm said. “The request to continue operations until the original expiration of the authorisation remains subject to merit review.”