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OPAP Plans to Appeal Greek Council of State’s Decision About Revoked License
September 29, 2019 Aleksandra Zolotic
After Greek Council of State ruled to revoke OPAP’s online sports betting license, lottery and gaming operator announced its plan to appeal the decision. The company pointed out that at the time being, it is in the process of “evaluating how to pursue the protection of its interests by all legal means.”
The cancellation of the certificate follows the Austrian operator Goalbet’s appeal of the Hellenic Gaming Commission’s (EEEP) decision to award OPAP an online wagering approval for its Pame Stoixima facility.
Contrast to Previous Actions
Even though the EEEP revoked the license back in July…
…the whole situation came to light just recently, after Greek media announced the reports during the past week.
However, the operator stressed that the ruling opposed all previous actions by the Greek state. This also included information provided to investors in the process to sell off the country’s share in OPAP.
At the time, prospective sponsors were informed that the establishment was licensed to offer fixed-odds betting until 2020.
“Despite the fact that the current contribution of online betting is not material and in any case below 1% of OPAP Group’s total revenue, OPAP, following this decision, is already in with competent bodies including the EEEP for all the appropriate actions to be taken.”
Comply with The Rules
Following the announcement of its decision…
… the court stated that if the operator is interested in re-entering the online sports wagering market, it is obliged to start again by acting in accordance with the country’s licensing requirements.
Goalbet, being one of 24 operators which were given a temporary approval that was later revoked, stated that OPAP has never been asked to meet the conditions necessary to operate in Greece. That’s what makes their certificate non-valid, and as Goalbet stressed, requires its retraction.
Stoiximan as Key Ingredient
The major part of OPAP’s overall sports betting revenue comes from its retail operation, which is why the establishment believes that this decision will not affect the figures significantly.
As for the first six months of the current year…
…the revenue from sports wagering was down 5.2% at €191.9m (£169.8m/$211.1m), with Pame Stoiximan’s contribution described as flat year-on-year. The operator added that a great deal of its online activities were carried out through Stoiximan Group, in which it holds a controlling interest.
Stoiximan, one of South-Eastern Europe’s leading operators, entered a successful partnership with iSoftBet, a Romanian online and mobile casino games software provider. The strategic coalition enabled them to go live with 150 of the developer’s slots, as well as with its table games collection and Game Aggregation Platform (GAP) with over 3000 titles from 46 different suppliers.
Source:
“OPAP to appeal online sports betting license ruling”, igamingbusiness.com, September 25, 2019.
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Perhaps this may sound silly, but what is Goalbet is just trying to gain more attention? When trying to beat the competition, operators will try anything, and this seems like one of the possible scenarios.