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http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100010_23/03/2007_81561
A website owner was arrested in Athens yesterday for acting as a middleman for locals placing a bet with British betting companies, as the government steps up efforts to curb illegal gambling by also targeting punters.
Police said the male suspect, aged 37, was operating a website from his company in Piraeus, southern Athens, that hooked up visitors with five different betting companies, mainly in Britain.
The suspect, who launched the site in 2001, is believed to have pocketed around 60,000 euros in commission per month for his efforts.
Police said that it was the first arrest of its kind in Greece.
Locals are being drawn to foreign betting companies by better odds and the ability to bet in real time, while the sporting event is taking place.
Greek law specifies that only state-controlled gaming company OPAP can accept wagers in Greece and that placing a bet with anyone else – even electronically – is illegal.
“The monopoly in set betting will continue to exist,” a senior source from the electronic crimes squad told Kathimerini.
Read the remainder of the article at above link.
This is a disturbing trend in Europe. I suspect as we all shift our marketing efforts towards the European markets local governments may feel their monopolies are being threatened.
Hopefully the EU will step in when this involves member nations, I am not so sure there will be equal protection afforded to those who are NOT based in an EU country.
Hi all,
Prof makes a good point here and I for one am glad I haven’t put a lot into marketing into Europe yet because when I saw one country saying they wouldn’t allow outside interests … I thought to myself how long will it be before one of two things happen ….. either everybody won’t allow out of country bets ….. or they’ll all have to adopt the attitude that the rulings by the ….(is it the wto?) .. well whatever their name is ….. ruled that on that free trade thing.
What always worried me was it seemed and still does …. that everybody seems to want a one-way arrangement. Its okay when the money is coming in …but not okay with it going out.
Simple logic says that will never fly. The question then remains which option will the world finally settle?
It’s not all bad new, on the other hand we are getting good news from Italy and I believe I read something about France and Germany.
Just to throw another angle onto this thread …
Greek OPAP reports 11 per cent profit increase
Greek gaming operator OPAP posted a net profit for 2006 of 509.8 million euros, an increase of 11.2 per cent on the previous year.Total revenue amounted to 4.63 billion euros for the period, an increase of 25.4 per cent, while lottery revenues were up five per cent to 2.28 billion euros.
So gaming is alive and well in Greece – and encouraged – as long as it’s with OPAP.
:huh2:Seeing as that Greece is a member of the EU, I don’t think they will be successful in implementing a ban, any more so than Italy or Sweden or the Netherlands will be in the long run.
Yes, they can be a pain in the ass for the time being – but ultimately unless EU regulations are changed, they will have to allow equal access to their markets from other EU members – and you can be sure that gambling services will be allowed in the end.
If you’re not based in an EU country – well, it’s not that hard to register a company in one of those jurisdictions, surely…
Guess Turkey made the wrong move recently
Seeing as that Greece is a member of the EU, I don’t think they will be successful in implementing a ban, any more so than Italy or Sweden or the Netherlands will be in the long run.
Based on Dom’s quote of the news item – it’s not clear to me if the affiliate actually handled funds for the UK bookies – like bet runners would do – if they did, then it’s not a purely affiliate system being threatened.
EU is such a brilliant concept – the union’s laws offer a safe harbor to companies and individuals against the monopolies of states. It’s not easy enforcing EU laws and directives on all countries but still, there’s that legal shelter higher than the state laws. the price the state’s have to pay to be in the EU is to accept and abide by EU laws.
