Stake Brazil court injunction overturned as TRF-3 blocks operator again

Stake is offline in Brazil again after the TRF-3 overturned the court injunction that had briefly allowed the operator to run until 25 October. The president of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region, Judge Luis Antonio Johonsom di Salvo, suspended the earlier ruling on Friday, accepting an emergency appeal from the Attorney General's Office (AGU), as iGB and Casino.org reported.

How the TRF-3 reversed the injunction

The injunction it overturned was granted the previous Thursday by Federal Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos. It was partial. Stake could operate until late October, but its request to keep running until 31 December 2029, the expiry date of its original licence, was denied by the 9th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo, according to iGB.

The AGU appealed on the grounds that the injunction favoured Stake over other betting companies and handed it a competitive advantage. Judge Johonsom di Salvo accepted that argument, iGB reported, considering that the authorisation created inequality in the application of the rules and could encourage other companies to seek similar decisions.

"In this case, I consider the evidence of serious harm to administrative public order to be sufficiently established," the ruling read. In a passage quoted by Casino.org, the judge added: "The fact that only one company remains authorised to regularly carry out economic activity while the others are subject to restrictions established by the Public Authorities demonstrates a regulatory asymmetry capable of affecting the execution of the implemented public policy."

He also cited the protection of bettors given the lack of transparency in how online gambling works, iGB reported. Stake opposed the AGU's request, but the court did not grant its position, and the company did not respond to iGB's request for comment.

The suspension holds until the action ends definitively or the court's presidency issues a new decision. The ruling does not address the merits of the case and does not declare the provisional measure constitutional or unconstitutional. Two of Brazil's major gambling trade bodies have challenged that measure at the Supreme Federal Court.

Casino.org, which accessed Stake Brazil through a Brazilian VPN, reported that the site and app returned on 8 October and were inaccessible again by 10 October. The notice it received said: "On October 8, 2026, a federal court ruling authorized Stake Brazil to resume operations. However, that decision was overturned by the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region. As a result, Stake Brazil's website and app have once again been unavailable since October 10, 2026."

Layoffs reach 3,500 while the Supreme Court waits

A partial survey by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), released last Wednesday and based on data supplied by operators, found that more than 3,500 workers have been laid off since Provisional Measure 1.394 was announced on 25 September. That is 23% of the sector's workforce, according to iGB. A further 4,167 employees are on collective furlough, and ANJL projects layoffs will reach 5,600 within 90 days, or 37% of workers.

"We need real numbers to gauge the measure's effects on the workers and companies that rely on this activity," ANJL president Plínio Lemos Jorge said in a statement sent to operators. He described the sector as spanning payment processors, marketing, compliance, agencies, affiliates and specialised media. "Each of these families is watching a member lose their job due to an unconstitutional decision that has yet to be judged by the Supreme Federal Court," he said. That characterisation of the measure is ANJL's, not a court finding.

Separately, Casino.org reported that a study by LCA Consultores estimated the ban could put R$73 billion ($14.7 billion) in tax revenue at risk over four years and warned more than 15,500 jobs could be lost if it stays in place.

What happens next

Justice Luiz Fux is reviewing a constitutional challenge to the measure filed by ANJL and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming, and has signalled he will withhold any ruling on suspending the ban until after the presidential election, Casino.org reported. Brazil's runoff is set for 25 October. The same outlet reported that political prediction markets give opposition candidate Flávio Bolsonaro an 87% chance of defeating President Lula, and that Bolsonaro has questioned the timing of the shutdown and suggested sports betting and online casino gaming should be regulated under separate models.

For the furloughed workers, the timing of that decision matters. ANJL's president said the wait for a ruling on the preliminary injunction requesting the measure's suspension could convert part of the 4,167 furloughed employees into permanent layoffs.