by Renee Israel
Two UK gambling giants, Ladbrokes and Betfair, were involved in legal
battles this week against the Dutch government.
The cases, which were heard by the European Court of Justice, were
unconnected although their common denominator was that both groups are seeking
to legally offer their gaming services to players in the Netherlands.
Ladbrokes has been involved in a seven year, uphill struggle against the
Dutch government, which issued an injunction preventing the group from accepting
wagers from its citizens.
"Ladbrokes is a well regulated, licensed betting and gaming operators and
under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, our services should be
accessible in other Member States," said the Remote Betting and Gaming Managing
Director, John O'Reilly.
"The injunction against Ladbrokes is aimed at protecting the revenues of the
Dutch state monopoly sports betting provider and their no justification for it
in European Community law," continued O'Reilly. "It does not make sense that a
Dutch citizen can cross the border into Belgium and place a bet in a Ladbrokes
shop, yet we are banned from accepting bets from Dutch citizens online."
Betfair, another leading UK group, has made an official complaint to the
European Court of Justice against a letter that was circulated among Dutch banks
by the government.
The correspondence ordered the banks to block payments to and from English
betting groups.
Betfair argued in court that this type of letter was in direct breach of
European Union trade rules.
It is believed that it may take up to a year for rulings to be made in both
these cases.
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